punishable

Etymology

It is formed from English punish + -able,^[2][3][4] probably on the model of Anglo-Norman punisable, punissable.^[2][5] The Shorter Oxford and the MED derive it from the French adjective.^[6][7] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from about 1292, meaning liable to legal punishment,^[8] and was used of offences as well as offenders in Anglo-Norman long before it was in continental French, where that sense appears only in the early 16th century.^[2] The French adjective is formed from the stem of punir (“to punish”),^[5][3] from Latin pūniō (“to punish”), from poena (“penalty”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of an offender, liable to or deserving punishment: 1429, in the proceedings of the Privy Council.^[2] Etymonline dates the word, in the form punysshable, to the early 15th century.^[3] The MED records it of persons liable to legal punishment, to punishment by God, and of lateness punishable under the rules of a craft.^[7]

Semantic evolution

From 1435 the word was applied to offences and acts as well as to people, as in a punishable offence.^[2][3][9] Johnson (1755) defined it as "worthy of punishment; capable of punishment", quoting Hooker.^[10] In 20th-century sports talk, following the colloquial use of punish for taking advantage of an opponent's mistakes, a weak shot or error could be called punishable (from 1910).^[2]

Timeline

• 1429 – of a person, liable to punishment.^[2]
• 1435 – of an offence, entailing punishment.^[2]
• 1910 – in sport, that can be taken advantage of.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of an act or offence, liable to be punished, especially by law: Fraud is punishable by up to ten years in prison.^[9][5][2]
2. Of a person, deserving of punishment or able to be punished.^[5][2][9]

Word family

• punishability
• unpunishable
• nonpunishable

Related words

• punish
• punishment
• punitive
• penal
• penalty
• pain

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.