punishment

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpʌn.ɪʃ.mənt/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English punisshement, borrowed from Anglo-Norman punisement, punissement,^[2][3][4] from punir “to punish” (see punish) and the suffix -ment,^[2][5][6] the stem puniss- coming from Latin pūnīre.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action of punishing or the fact of being punished: 1292 in the OED;^[7] in Etymonline the late 14th century, in law, the inflicting of pain, loss or confinement on someone for an offence.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The suffering or hardship inflicted as punishment is from the early 15th century, and a penalty or sentence imposed from the mid-15th.^[2] Gradually the word was extended to pain or injury in general.^[2] Rough handling is from 1811, first of the blows a prizefighter landed on an opponent,^[2][7] and of materials or machinery subjected to hard use from 1930.^[7] In psychology an unpleasant consequence used to shape behaviour is from 1907.^[7][3] In the West Riding of Yorkshire punishment was also a repeated attempt to dye a piece of cloth.^[8]

Timeline

• 1292 – the act of punishing.^[7]
• mid-15th century – a penalty or sentence.^[2]
• 1811 – rough handling, in boxing.^[2][7]
• 1907 – in psychology.^[7]
• 1930 – hard use of machinery.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A penalty imposed for a crime or other wrongdoing: capital punishment.
2. The act of punishing, or the state of being punished; retribution.
3. (informal) Rough treatment or hard use: the car took a lot of punishment.
4. (psychology) An unpleasant stimulus used to discourage a response in training.

Word family

• nonpunishment
• overpunishment
• self-punishment
• capital punishment

Related words

• impunity
• punishable
• punishing
• punitive
• punitory
• punish
• penal
• penalty
• pain

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)