penal
/ˈpiːnəl/
penal adjective: of or relating to punishment.
Adjective
penal (not comparable)
- Of or relating to punishment.
- penal servitude
- Synonyms:
- penary, penitentiary
- Subject to punishment; punishable.
- a penal offence
- Synonyms:
- castigable, disciplinable, chastisable, punishable, statutable, subpenal
- Serving as a place of punishment.
- a penal colony
- Exorbitant.
- a penal rate of interest
- Synonyms:
- disproportionate, usurious, exorbiant, exorbitant, extortionable, extortionate, extortious, extravagant, inordinate, sky-high
penal meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
penal in Tamil
- ஒறுப்பு, தண்டனை, தண்டம்
penal in Urdu
- سزا سے متعلق, قابل سزا
penal in Bengali
- দণ্ডবিধি সংক্রান্ত, শাস্তিমূলক, অপরাধের বিচার সংক্রান্ত
penal in Malayalam
- ശിക്ഷാപരമായ, ശിക്ഷാനിയമം സംബന്ധിച്ച, ശിക്ഷയുണ്ടാക്കുന്ന, ക്രിമിനൽ കുറ്റകരമായ
More languagesFewer languages
- penal in Kannada
- ದಂಡನೆಯ, ಶಿಕ್ಷೆಯ, ದಂಡನೀಯ, ಶಿಕ್ಷಾರ್ಹ
- penal in Arabic
- جَزَائِيّ jazāʔiyy, عِقَابِيّ ʕiqābiyy
Examples of penal in a sentence
- Australia was used as a penal colony by the United Kingdom in the 18th to 19th century.
- A Prussian proposal for a harsh penal code made male homosexuality an even more serious crime.
- There was no High Court as at present constituted, and no penal or suchlike codes.
Synonyms of penal
- penary
- penitentiary
- castigable
- disciplinable
- chastisable
- punishable
- statutable
- disproportionate
- usurious
- exorbiant
9 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- exorbitant
- extortionate
- extravagant
- inordinate
- sky-high
- subpenal
- extortionable
- extortious
- punishmental
Antonyms
Forms of penal
| alternative form | pænal |
|---|---|
| alternative form | pænall |
| alternative form | penall |
| alternative form | pœnal |
| alternative form | pœnall |
Origin 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.
Words formed from penal
Phrases with penal
Words that rhyme with penal
Questions about penal
- What does penal mean?
- Penal means of or relating to punishment.
- What is penal in Tamil?
- Penal in Tamil is ஒறுப்பு, தண்டனை, தண்டம். See Penal meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is penal?
- Penal is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce penal?
- Penal is pronounced /ˈpiːnəl/.
Words near penal in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: penal (page history and authors); penal (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); penal (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); penal (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); penal (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); penal (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-penal.wav.
Cite this entry: “penal.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/penal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.