Etymograph

English

peine

Peine comes from Old French peine ‘pain’, from Latin poena ‘penalty, punishment’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷey- ‘to pay’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷey-1‘to pay’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷoynéh₂2‘payment’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kʷoinā́2reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEποινή3‘fine, ransom, penalty, penance, satisfaction’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpoena3‘penalty, punishment’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400peine4‘pain’
  7. Englishtodaypeine4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *kʷoynéh₂
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ποινή
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old French peine
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English peine

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷey-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *kʷoynéh₂‘to pay’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷoynéh₂Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ποινή‘payment’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kʷoinā́Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ποινήreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEποινήWiktionary, Old French peine‘fine, ransom, penalty, penance, satisfaction’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpoenaWiktionary, Old French peine‘penalty, punishment’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400peineWiktionary, English peine‘pain’
  7. EnglishtodaypeineWiktionary, English peine

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kʷey- ‘to pay’

poetry, poem, poet, painful, titanium, whey, painless, onomatopoeia, 19 more

through Ancient Greek ποινή ‘fine, ransom, penalty, penance, satisfaction’

penalty, subpoena, 3 more

through Latin poena ‘penalty, punishment’

pain, punishment, punish, pine, punitive, impunity, penal, 3 more

Today it means

noun Pain or punishment.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “peine”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *kʷoynéh₂, Ancient Greek ποινή, Old French peine. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kʷey- / peine

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