penalty
/ˈpɛn.əl.ti/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.45 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A punishment for violating rules of procedure.
noun
A payment forfeited for an early withdrawal from an account or an investment.
noun
In sports:
noun
In sports:
noun
A disadvantageous consequence of a previous event.
Example Sentences
- "The penalty for his crime was to do hard labor."
- "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?"
- "A penalty was called when he tripped up his opponent."
- ""But you, my noble, my generous girl!" exclaimed Lord Avonleigh, "I dare not let you pay the penalty of my former folly.""
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *kʷey-, pénalité, poenālis, ποινή, *kʷoinā́, *kʷoynéh₂