penalty

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun the act of punishing
  2. noun a payment required for not fulfilling a contract
  3. noun the disadvantage or painful consequences of an action or condition

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.

In classic literature

Synonyms

punishment, penalization, penalisation

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