penal

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈpinəl/ UK /ˈpiːnəl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
relating to punishment for breaking the law

The reform overhauled the country's antiquated penal code.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · relating to punishment for... punitive disciplinarycorrectionalretributive

Opposites

remunerative rewarding

Word family

Derived forms penalizepenallypenalty penalization

Related forms penalty penalize penance punish

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

penal servitude
forced labor imposed as a criminal punishment

Adjective + noun

Simplified etymology

Penal ultimately comes from Latin poena, originally meaning “penalty” and later also “pain.” It belongs to the same word family as pain and penalty.

Etymology

From Old French penal, from Latin poenalis ('relating to punishment'), from poena ('penalty, punishment'), from Greek poine ('penalty, blood-money').

poenalis Latin poena Latin poine Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# penal

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈpinəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈpiːnəl/

## Meanings
1. relating to punishment for breaking the law

## Examples
- The reform overhauled the country's antiquated penal code.

## Synonyms
- punitive
- disciplinary
- correctional
- retributive

## Antonyms
- remunerative
- rewarding

## Derived Forms
- penalize
- penally
- penalty
- penalization

## Related Forms
- penalty
- penalize
- penance
- punish

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: poenalis
- Root: poena
- Root: poine

## Etymology
From Old French penal, from Latin poenalis ('relating to punishment'), from poena ('penalty, punishment'), from Greek poine ('penalty, blood-money').

## AI Etymology
Penal is from Old French penal, from Latin poenalis ('relating to punishment'), from poena ('penalty, punishment'), from Greek poine ('penalty, blood-money'). Important recorded forms include poenalis (Latin), poena (Latin), and poine (Ancient Greek). Morphologically, the ending or combining element turns the older base into the present English part of speech. The modern sense follows that older lexical line closely. In current use it covers relating to punishment for breaking the law. The wider family includes derived forms such as penalize, penally, penalty, and penalization and related words such as penalty, penalize, penance, and punish.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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