Unharmed or unhurt; escaping injury or damage even in a dangerous situation.
From Old Norse 'skatha' (to harm or injure), plus the prefix 'un-' (not). The prefix 'un-' negates the meaning, creating the sense of 'not harmed.'
The root 'skatha' comes from Old Norse and literally means to injure, but it only survives in English in the negative form 'unscathed'—we don't use 'scathed' alone anymore. It's a word that erased its opposite from modern usage, making 'unscathed' feel like the default.
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