Harsh
Middle English: from Middle Low German harsch ‘rough’, literally ‘hairy’, from haer ‘hair’.
wiktionary
From Middle English harsk, harisk(e), hask(e), herris. Century derived the term from Old Norse harskr (whence Danish harsk(“rancid”), dialectal Norwegian hersk, Swedish härsk); the Middle English Dictionary derives it from that and Middle Low German harsch(“rough”, literally “hairy”) (whence also German harsch), from haer(“hair”); the Oxford Dictionary of English derives it from Middle Low German alone.
etymonline
harsh (adj.)
originally of texture, "hairy," 1530s, probably from Middle English harske "rough, coarse, sour" (c. 1300), a northern word of Scandinavian origin (compare Danish and Norwegian harsk "rancid, rank"), related to Middle Low German harsch "rough, raw," German harst "a rake;" perhaps from PIE root *kars- "to scrape, scratch, rub, card" (source also of Lithuanian karšiu, karšti "to comb," Old Church Slavonic krasta, Russian korosta "scab," Latin carduus "thistle," Sanskrit kasati "rubs, scratches"). Meaning "offensive to feelings" is from 1570s; that of "disagreeable, rude" from 1610s.
harsh (v.)
1580s, "sound harshly," from harsh (adj.). Meaning "make harsh, subject to harshness" is by 1991. Related: Harshed; harshing. Harshen is attested from 1821.
