unpunished

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English unpunished, also unpunisshed and unpunisht,^[2] formed from English un- + punished, the past participle of punish.^[3][4][5][6] The OED notes that it was originally modelled on Latin impūnītus.^[3] Johnson (1755) also gave the Latin impūnis beside it.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not punished, not subjected to punishment: before 1325, in a manuscript of the Statutes of the Realm.^[3] Etymonline dates the word to the mid 14th century, with the senses "suffered to pass with impunity" and "unavenged",^[4] and the first quotations in the Middle English Dictionary are from Trevisa's translation of Higden, before 1387, where it renders Latin impunita.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English it was used both of offenders excepted from legal or royal penalty, and of those spared divine retribution, often in phrases such as ben, escapen or leven unpunished.^[2] Chaucer used it four times.^[8] It is often used predicatively, especially in to go unpunished.^[3] Johnson (1755) glossed it "not punished; suffered to continue in impunity".^[7] The cynical saying no good deed goes unpunished is recorded by 1966.^[4]

Timeline

• before 1325 – not punished.^[3]
• before 1387 – excepted from legal penalty; also, unavenged.^[2][4]
• 1966 – no good deed goes unpunished.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not punished; escaping any penalty, especially in go unpunished: The theft did not go unpunished for long.^[9][5][3][6]

Related words

• punish
• impunity
• punishment

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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)
3. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins