Etymograph

English

penalty

Penalty comes from Middle French pénalité, from pénal, from Latin poenālis, from poena, borrowed from Ancient Greek ποινή ‘blood money’.

  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 BCEποινή2poinḗ‘blood money’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpoena2‘penalty’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpoenālis2‘penal’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600pénal2
  8. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600pénalité2
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1834penalty2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *kʷoynéh₂
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English penalty
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Richard Bentley: “But you, my noble, my generous girl!" exclaimed Lord…”.

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, English penalty‘payment’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kʷoinā́Wiktionary, English penaltyreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEποινήWiktionary, English penaltypoinḗ‘blood money’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpoenaWiktionary, English penalty‘penalty’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpoenālisWiktionary, English penalty‘penal’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600pénalWiktionary, English penalty
  8. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600pénalitéWiktionary, English penalty
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1834penaltyWiktionary, English penalty. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Richard Bentley: “But you, my noble, my generous girl!" exclaimed Lord…”

Linked words

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

poetry, painful, poem, poet, titanium, painless, whey, onomatopoeia, 21 more

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

pain, punishment, pine, punish, punitive, impunity, subpoena, 5 more

Today it means

noun A legal sentence.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “penalty”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Indo-European *kʷoynéh₂. 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- / penalty

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