punish

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpʌn.ɪʃ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English punishen, borrowed from Old French puniss-, the extended stem of punir (“to punish”),^[2][3][4][5] from Latin pūniō (“to inflict a penalty on”), earlier poeniō,^[3][4][6] from poena (“penalty, punishment”) (see pain and penal).^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To inflict divine retribution on: about 1303, as ponysshen, in Mannyng's Handlyng Synne;^[2] about 1300 in Etymonline.^[3] To make an offender suffer for a fault is from 1340, in the Ayenbite of Inwyt.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

To visit an offence with a penalty is also from 1340,^[7] and to punish, used absolutely, from about 1380.^[7] The colloquial sense, to handle roughly or inflict heavy damage, began in boxing.^[3] Collins records an informal sense, to consume a lot of something.^[8] Punishment is from 1385, in Usk's Testament of Love,^[2] and punitive from the 17th century.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1303 – to inflict divine retribution.^[2]
• 1340 – to punish an offender.^[2][7]
• c. 1380 – to inflict punishment.^[7]
• 1385 – punishment.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To make someone undergo a penalty for an offence, sin or fault.
2. To inflict a penalty for an offence.
3. To handle roughly; to treat harshly.
4. (informal) To consume a lot of something: to punish the bottle.

Word family

• punishability
• punishable
• punisher
• overpunish
• prepunish
• repunish
• punishing
• punishment

Related words

• pain
• penal
• penalty
• punitive
• penance

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins