*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of penal

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.

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
adj

Of or relating to punishment. · Subject to punishment; punishable. · Serving as a place of punishment. · Exorbitant.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

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.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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        "3": "peinal"
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      "expansion": "Old French peinal"
    },
    {
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      "args": {
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        "2": "la-med",
        "3": "penalis"
      },
      "expansion": "Medieval Latin penalis"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "poenalis"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin poenalis"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "grc",
        "3": "ποινή",
        "4": "",
        "5": "punishment"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek ποινή (poinḗ, “punishment”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
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        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*kʷoynéh₂"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *kʷoynéh₂"
    },
    {
      "name": "root",
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        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*kʷey-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    }
  ],
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      "peinal#Old_French"
    ],
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      "penalis#Latin"
    ],
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      "poenalis#Latin"
    ],
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      "poena",
      "poena#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "ποινή",
      "ποινή#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
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      "*kʷoynéh₂",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/kʷoynéh₂"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "adj",
      "glosses": [
        "Of or relating to punishment.",
        "Subject to punishment; punishable.",
        "Serving as a place of punishment.",
        "Exorbitant."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
      ],
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  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
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    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for penal →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-cGVuYWw