penalty
noun/ˈpɛn.əl.ti/
Etymology From Middle French pénalité, from pénal, from Latin poenālis, from poena, borrowing of Ancient Greek ποινή (poinḗ), from Proto-Hellenic *kʷoinā́, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷoynéh₂, comprising *kʷey- + *-néh₂.
1
A legal sentence.
- The penalty for his crime was to do hard labor.
2
A punishment for violating rules of procedure.
- Was it so irreconcilable, Warwick wondered, as still to peal out the curfew bell, which at nine o'clock at night had clamorously warned all negroes, slave or free, that it was unlawful for them to be abroad after that hour, under penalty of imprisonment or whipping?1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC:
› In sports:
4
Ball games, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Soccer, Sports A direct free kick from the penalty spot, taken after a defensive foul in the penalty box; a penalty kick.
5
Hobbies, Ice hockey, Lifestyle, Skating, Sports A punishment for an infraction of the rules, often in the form of being removed from play for a specified amount of time.
- A penalty was called when he tripped up his opponent.
6
A disadvantageous consequence of a previous event.
- "But you, my noble, my generous girl!" exclaimed Lord Avonleigh, "I dare not let you pay the penalty of my former folly."1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XV, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 126:
- Synonyms
- censure, correction, discipline, penalty, punishment, punition, sanction, sentence
- Antonyms
- compensation, reward
- Derived terms
39 terms
counterpenalty, death penalty, drive-through penalty, face mask penalty, fixed penalty notice, long lap penalty, loyalty penalty, marriage penalty, match penalty, minor penalty, pay the penalty, penalty arc, penalty area, penalty box, penalty card, penalty copy, penalty corner, penalty envelope, penalty function, penalty goal, penalty kick, penalty kill, penalty loop, penalty mark, penalty phase, penalty point, penalty rate, penalty shootout, penalty shoot-out, penalty shot, penalty spot, penalty throw, penalty try, penalty turn, penalty unit, Pessi, point penalty, prepayment penalty, stop-and-go penalty- Hyponyms
- retribution, beating, excommunication, execution, fine, forfeiture, imprisonment, weregild, whipping
- Holonyms
- lawsuit