punish
To cause (a child, student, or someone else being looked after, or a suspect or criminal) to suffer for crime or misconduct, to administer disciplinary action, typically by an authority or a person in authority (for example: a parent, teacher, or police officer).
Example
“If a prince violates the law, then he must be punished like an ordinary person.”
Other meanings
To treat harshly and unfairly.
To handle or beat severely; to maul.
Related words
- corporally punish
- mispunish
- outpunish
- overpunish
- prepunish
- punishability
- punishee
- repunish
- punishable
- punishing
Word history
From Latin "puniō" (to inflict punishment upon).
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “punish” on Wiktionary, by its contributors, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.