punish, v.
(ˈpʌnɪʃ)
Forms: see below.
[a. F. puniss-, extended stem (in punisse, punissant, etc.: see -ish2) of F. punir:—L. pūnīre to punish, in earlier L. pœnīre, f. pœna = Gr. ποινή fine, penalty, requital, punishment, pain n.1]
A. Illustration of Forms.
(α) 4 puniss-en, -yss-en, punyes, punich, punyzsh, 4–5 punysch(e, punnishe, 4–6 punys(e, -yssh(e; 5 punice, -yce, -ych, -es(c)h, pugnysshe, Sc. pwnys, 5–6 punysh, 6 punnysch, punis, Sc. punise, -isse, -eise, -eish, -eis(s, -ische, -yss, pwnis, 6– punish (7 punnich).
| 1340 Ayenb. 148 Hou he ssel his broþer chasti..oþer his seriont..punissi. 1340 Ypunyssed [see B. 1 b]. a 1340 Hampole Psalter iv. 6 A sorowful gast, punyschand þe self for synne. Ibid. xxvi. 14 Suffire me noght forto fall swa that thou punyes me in hell. c 1350 Will. Palerne 4068 Puniched at þe hardest. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. iii. 69 To punisschen [1377 punyschen] on pillories..Brewesters, Bakers. c 1375 Punyst [see B. 1]. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 425 [Thei] moten be punyȝshid. 1380 Punysshe [see B. 1 b]. 1380 Punnishe [see B. 1 c]. c 1400 Rom. Rose 7235 Therfore god shal him punyce; But me ne rekketh of no vyce. 1460 Paston Lett. I. 525 My lord of York hath dyvers straunge commissions fro the Kyng..to punych them by the fawtes to the Kyngs lawys. c 1470 Henry Wallace vii. 1264 Wallace with force pwnyst [thaim] rygorusly. 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. i. xv. 40 That suche men be pugnysshed. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lix. 22 Puness him for his deid culpabile. 1530 Palsgr. 670/2 That God punissheth them for their great vyce. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxxxiii. 257 For the whiche synnes he hath ben by me sore punyshyd. 1533 Gau Richt Vay 51 To punis al his inimis. 1538 Starkey England i. iii. 90 And when hyt plesyth hym other wyse to punnysch vs, then we must lake. 1544 Punish [see B. 1]. 1562 Punisses [see B. 1 c]. 1563–7 Buchanan Reform. St. Andros Wks. (1892) 9 He sal punyss..the writar. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 191 Without God puneis thair cruell vice. 1582 J. Hamilton Cath. Traict. Epist., in Cath. Tractates (S.T.S.) 78 The leuing God puneishit thame. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 127 To punise offenderis. 1612 Pr. Chas. in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. III. 104, I deserve to be punniched for my ill fortune. |
(β) 4 ponis, -esche, 4–5 -ysch(e, 5 -ysse, -ysshe, 5–6 ponysh, 6 poynysse.
| c 1375 XI Pains of Hell 220 in O.E. Misc. 217 Vche cursid dede ponyschid truly. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 39, I schal al biþinke to ponesche hem wiþ eendelees peyne. c 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 57 To ponysse mysdoers and trespasours. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon l. 166 Therfore he hath ben ponyshyd. 1538 in W. A. J. Archbold Somerset Relig. Ho. (1892) 80 He lovethe vertew and wyll poynysse vyse. |
(γ) 4–5 punch, -e, punsch(e.
| 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 747 Ȝe schulle be punched & put in paine for euere. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 221 Punschynge of evel doers. Ibid. VIII. 315 For he schulde nouȝt be i-punsched by þe lawe. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 416/2 Punchyn, or chastysyn',..punio, castigo. c 1450 Cov. Myst. viii. (Shaks. Soc.), Joachim. Punchyth me, Lorde, and spare my blyssyd wyff Anne. 1460 Punchid [see B. 1]. |
B. Signification.
1. a. trans. As an act of a superior or of public authority: To cause (an offender) to suffer for an offence; to subject to judicial chastisement as retribution or requital, or as a caution against further transgression; to inflict a penalty on.
| 1340, etc. [see A. α]. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints vi. (Thomas) 86 Bettir is þat þu For þis trespace be punyst nov, Þan þar-fore þu be punyste sare, Quhare pardone sal be neuir mare. 1460 J. Capgrave Chron. (Rolls) 162 Alle thoo malefactores were punchid with iii. maner peynis; for thei were first drawe, than hange, and last brent. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 19 b, Crucifye and punysshe thy body with werkes of penaunce. 1544 tr. Littleton's Tenures (1574) 8 Tenant in taile after possibylity of yssue extinct shall never bee punished of wast. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxvi. 144 'Tis against the Law of Nature, To punish the Innocent. 1754 Richardson Grandison II. xxxi. 306 The violators of the social duties are frequently punished by the success of their own wishes. 1884 S. R. Gardiner Hist. Eng. IX. lxxxviii. 12 The King was not without hope that some legal means of punishing them might be found. |
b. To requite or visit (an offence, etc.) with a penalty inflicted on the offender; to inflict a penalty for (something).
| 1340 Ayenb. 74 Al þet hit vint ine þe zaule of gelte of dede, of speche, of þoȝte.., al uorbernþ and clenzeþ and þer byeþ ypunyssed, and awreke. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 408 God may not forȝete þis trespas but punysshe it in his tyme. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop ii. Pref., The Athenyens..wold haue demaunded a kynge for to punysshe alle the euyll. 1570 Satir. Poems Reform. xvii. 56 Throw him was..Piracie puneist. 1769 Blackstone Comm. IV. i. 7 It is clear, that the right of punishing crimes against the law of nature..is in a state of mere nature vested in every individual. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iv. I. 484 The spirit of the law..was that no misdemeanour should be punished more severely than the most atrocious felonies. |
c. absol. To inflict punishment.
| c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 40 Upon þe ferþe synne God ceessiþ never to punnishe. 1562 Winȝet Cert. Tractatis i. (S.T.S.) I. 8 God punissis oftymes in ye samyn thing quhairin man offendis. 1605 Shakes. Lear iii. iv. 16 But I will punish home. 1715 De Foe Fam. Instruct. i. i. (1841) I. 9 God does not punish that way. a 1716 South Serm. (1744) X. vi. 180 To punish is properly an act of a superior to an inferior. |
† 2. a. To fine (a person). b. To exact (money due) from a person. Obs.
| 1572 Huloet, To punish, pecunia multare. 1591 Horsey Trav. (Hakl. Soc. No. 18) App. 289 A desperate debte owinge by the chauncelere Shalkan..was violentely puneshed from him and payd the Companye. 1700 Tyrrell Hist. Eng. II. 819 He whose Dog..shall be found Unlawed, shall be punished Three Shillings. |
3. transf. To handle severely; to inflict heavy damage, injury, or loss on. Also absol.
In various slang, colloquial, or jocular uses: as, To inflict severe blows upon (an opponent in a boxing match); to thrash, belabour, maul; extended to handling severely in other forms of contest (e.g. football, cricket, boat-racing); also, jocularly, to make a heavy ‘inroad’ on (a stock of provisions, wine, etc.), to consume or diminish severely; to urge (a horse) by severe application of whip or spur; to abuse (a musical instrument) by playing it badly; in dial. or colloq. use, to cause pain or suffering to, to hurt; see Eng. Dial. Dict.
| 1801 Sporting Mag. XIX. 62/2 This desperate contest, comprising sixteen rounds, lasted twenty-one minutes, and we never witnessed a man more punished than Burk. 1807 R. Southey Lett. from England III. lxxi. 310 When the [boxing] champion..comes off victor, after suffering much in the contest, he is said to be much punished. 1812 Sporting Mag. XXXIX. 22 He lost his science after he had been a good deal punished. Ibid. XLVIII. 187 In his prime no one could punish him. 1825 C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy I. 242 We..drank freely—punished his claret. 1839 Thackeray Fatal Boots xii, We punished her cellar too. 1844 Dickens Mart. Chuz. xxxvi. 425 Tom, taking up his knife and fork again... ‘I shall punish the Boar's Head dreadfully.’ 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair liii, He punished my champagne. 1856 H. H. Dixon Post & Paddock xii. 209 If a foolish lad punishes his beaten horse unnecessarily. 1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting i. 16 They [sc. sjamboks] are very tough and supple..and punish tremendously. 1864 Sporting Mag. XLV. 194 When the Eleven come to the wickets, how they punish the ball, and rapidly run-up a long score. 1882 Garden 3 June 384/3 Phlox divaricata is very pretty, but how the slugs and snails do punish it! 1883 Daily Tel. 15 May 2/7 The Oxonian's [bowling] was..severely punished, both batsmen scoring a 3 hit off one over. 1891 W. G. Grace Cricket xi. 312 It was a treat to watch him punish the bowling. 1896 Doyle Rodney Stone xix, The smith, although he laughed at his own injuries, had none the less been severely punished. 1930 Morning Post 16 July 11/5 Chapman batted remarkably well. He refused to take any risk and yet punished the loose ball. 1934 Dylan Thomas in Listener 24 Oct. 691/2 Especially when the October wind With frosty fingers punishes my hair. Ibid., Especially when the October wind..With fist of turnips punishes the land. 1942 J. B. Priestley Black-Out in Gretley vii. 149 The bottle of brandy they'd punished was prominent on the little table. 1949 ‘J. Tey’ Brat Farrar iv. 34 Ungainly women in unseemly clothes punishing the saddles of broken-spirited horses. 1967 Observer 17 Dec. 1/1 An old man punishing a mandolin in Bond Street. |
Hence punished (ˈpʌnɪʃt) ppl. a.
| c 1806 Sir R. Wilson Cape Gd. Hope in Life (1862) I. App. ix. 375 It is also remarked..that..the backs of punished men require all the care and skill of the surgeon. 1866 S. B. James Duty & Doctrine (1871) 32 Evil is personified in a punished Satan. |