punitive

English

Etymology

From Middle French punitif, from Medieval Latin pūnitīvus, from pūniō (“to punish”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpju.nɪ.tɪv/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

punitive (comparative more punitive, superlative most punitive)

1. (law, military) Inflicting punishment; punishing.

   Synonyms: castigatory, (archaic) punitory; see also Thesaurus:punitive

   Beijing imposed punitive sanctions on Canada.

   The jury awarded $10,000 in punitive damages.

   The council took punitive measures against poachers.

   • 2006 December 22, “Judge Cuts Amount of Vioxx Award”, in The New York Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 12 July 2022, retrieved 7 June 2011:

     But Judge Alex W. Gabert, in a Rio Grande City courtroom, ordered the punitive damage reduced to conform to a 2003 Texas law that caps punitive damages at twice the amount of economic damages — lost pay — and up to $750,000 on top of noneconomic damages.

Derived terms

• impunitive
• intropunitive
• nonpunitive
• punitive damages
• punitively
• punitiveness
• punitive populism
• punitive tariff
• punitivism
• unpunitive

Related terms

• punishment

Translations

punishing

• Bulgarian: наказателен (bg) (nakazatelen)
• Catalan: punitiu
• Czech: trestný (cs)
• Dutch: straf- (prefix in compound words)
• Esperanto: puna
• French: punitif (fr)
• German: strafend (de), Straf-
• Greek: ποινικός (el) (poinikós)
• Italian: punitivo (it)
• Polish: karny (pl)
• Portuguese: punitivo (pt)
• Romanian: punitiv (ro) m
• Russian: кара́тельный (ru) (karátelʹnyj)
• Spanish: punitivo (es)
• Swedish: straff-
• Ukrainian: кара́льний (karálʹnyj)
• Welsh: cosbol

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /py.ni.tiv/
• Homophone: punitives

Adjective

punitive

1. feminine singular of punitif

German

Pronunciation

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Adjective

punitive

1. inflection of punitiv:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pu.niˈti.ve/
• Rhymes: -ive
• Hyphenation: pu‧ni‧tì‧ve

Adjective

punitive

1. feminine plural of punitivo

Anagrams

• punitevi