penalize

Etymology

It is formed from English penal + -ize.^[2][3][4][5] Penal is from Middle French penal and penalis, from Latin poenālis (“of punishment”), from poena (“punishment”),^[2][3] which Etymonline traces to a Greek word for blood-money or penalty.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To impose a penalty or restriction on: 1843, in the journal of the Indiana House of Representatives.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The 1989 edition of the OED dated the word to 1868 in sport and to 1879 in law,^[6] as Etymonline still does,^[3] but the revised OED found earlier American and British records: the general sense in 1843, the horse-racing sense "to handicap" in 1848, and "to make legally punishable" in 1854.^[2] The sporting sense, punishing a team or player for breaking the rules, is first recorded in 1868, in Modern Pocket Hoyle.^[2][3] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate dates the verb to 1868,^[7] Dictionary.com to 1865–70,^[8] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged gives 1888 for the first sense.^[4] From the general sense came the extended meaning "to put at a disadvantage".^[2][4]

Timeline

• 1843 – to impose a penalty or restriction on.^[2]
• 1848 – in horse racing, to handicap a horse.^[2]
• 1854 – to make an action legally punishable.^[2]
• 1868 – in sport, to punish a player or team for a breach of the rules.^[2][3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To impose a penalty on someone, as for breaking a law or rule: The council penalized landlords who ignored the safety code.^[9][4][2]
2. To put at a disadvantage or handicap.^[9][4][2]
3. In sport, to award a penalty, point or free stroke against a player or team.^[9][2]
4. To declare an act legally punishable.^[9][2]

Word family

• penalization
• penalizable
• overpenalize

Related words

• penal
• penalty

Usage notes

The spelling penalise is used especially in British English.^[4][9][5][8]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins