Where does “punishment” come from?
Punishment comes from Middle English punishement, from Old French punissement, combining Old French punir with the suffix -ment from Latin -mentum, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European men- meaning to think or intend.
punishment (English): The act or process of punishing, imposing and/or...
Definitions
- The act or process of punishing, imposing and/or...
Ancestry of “punishment”, step by step
punishment traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English punish
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | punish | To cause to suffer for crime or misconduct, to... |
| 2 | Middle English | punischen | — |
| 3 | Old French | puniss- | — |
| 4 | Old French | punir | to punish |
| 5 | Latin | puniō | to punish |
| 6 | Latin | poenā | penalty, punishment |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | ποινή | blood money, wergeld; fine, ransom, penalty,... |
| 8 | Proto-Hellenic | kʷoinā́ | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷoynéh₂ | payment; punishment, vengeance |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷey- | to pay; to avenge |
via Middle English punishement
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | punishement | — |
| 2 | Old French | punissement | punishment |
| 3 | Old French | -ment | Used to form adverbs, most of the time equivalent... |
| 4 | Latin | -mentum | instrument, medium, or result of; e.g.... |
| 5 | Latin | -menta | nominative plural of -mentum; accusative plural... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -mn̥ | Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs |