Link Centre Dictionary

penal

pe·nal

UK/ˈpiːnəl/ US/ˈpinʌl/ uncommon

adjective

1.

of or relating to punishment

  • “penal reform”
  • “penal code”
2.

serving as or designed to impose punishment

  • “penal servitude”
  • “a penal colony”
Similar
3.

subject to punishment by law

  • “a penal offense”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

From Old French peinal, from Medieval Latin penalis, from Latin poenalis, from poena (“punishment”), from Ancient Greek ποινή (poinḗ, “punishment”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷoynéh₂.

Phrases

  • penal code
  • penal colony
  • penal law
  • penal notice
  • penal officer
  • penal populism
  • penal rosary
  • penal-industrial complex

Related words

Word family

Pertaining to

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.