noun

penalty

PEN-ul-tee/ˈpenəlti/

A punishment imposed for breaking a rule or law.

The referee imposes a penalty for the trip by showing a yellow card.

Soccer referee raises yellow card to player who tripped opponent.

Etymology

penLatinpunishment

+alLatinrelating to

+tyLatinstate or condition

Built on the same punishment word as penal, penalty names the punishment itself. Its use extends from legal punishment to consequences for broken agreements and disadvantages imposed for sporting rule violations.

In context

LibriVox Audiobooks129:36

Sleeping at the post was a court-martial affair with death or field punishment and a long term of imprisonment as a penalty.

Everyman at War. Sixty Personal Narratives of the War by Charles B. Purdom Part 1/3 | Audio Book

More examples

The penalty for cheating is disqualification.
She pays a penalty for filing her taxes late.
The referee calls a penalty for holding.

Forms

penalty · penalties

penalize verb — To impose a punishment for wrongdoing.

penal adjective — Relating to punishment for breaking laws.

Similar words

fine: A monetary punishment rather than another kind of sanction.
punishment: Broader term covering consequences imposed informally as well as legally.