Etymologically
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punio

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈpuː.ni.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpuː.ni.o][1]

Forms

pūniō (present infinitive pūnīre, perfect active pūnīvī or pūniī, supine pūnītum); fourth conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from poena “penalty” with the suffix -iō, with archaic ⟨poeniō⟩.[2][1][3] The TLL notes that a verb in ⟨-āre⟩ would be expected from ⟨poena⟩, so that some connect the form in ⟨-īre⟩ with an old adverb.[4] Lucretius has the syncopated ⟨poenībat⟩, and a deponent ⟨pūnior⟩ is also found.[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis and Short's examples begin with Cicero, of punishing faults and the guilty.[3] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to inflict a penalty on, punish, as Cicero's peccāta pūnīmus, and to avenge a wrong one has suffered.[2][3][6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to punish, chastise.[7] It survives in Italian punire, French and Spanish punir, and through the Old French stem puniss- it gave English punish about 1300.[1][8]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of punishing faults.[3][5]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses the form poenībat.[3][5]
  • c. 1300 – English punish is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To punish.[2]
  2. To avenge.[2]

Word family

  • pūnītiō
  • pūnītor

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com