Etymologically
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punish

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 15:35. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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

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