punitivo

Forms

punitivo (feminine punitiva, masculine plural punitivos, feminine plural punitivas)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word from Latin pūnītum, the supine of pūniō (“to punish”), with the suffix -ivo.^[2][1][3] Corominas derives it from the rare Old Spanish verb punir “to punish” (15th century), from the same Latin verb.^[4] The verb is formed from poena (“penalty, punishment”), the source of pena.^[1][4] The same word is Italian punitivo.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The Academy first entered it in 1884, as “pertaining to punishment”, with the example justicia punitiva.^[6] Moliner marks it as a learned word and VOX as formal; typical phrases are justicia punitiva and expedición punitiva.^[3][7]

Timeline

• 1884 – first in the Academy's dictionary, with its etymology from Latin punitum.^[6]
• 1978–1989 – records from Caracas, Buenos Aires, Guadalajara and Puerto Rico, including daños punitivos “punitive damages”.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (formal) punitive: relating to or involving punishment (castigo): justicia punitiva.^[2][1][7]

Related words

• punir
• punible
• impune
• pena
• Latin pūniō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. punitivo
3. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. punitivo
4. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. impune
5. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 1013
6. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 880
7. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. punitivo
8. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. punitivo