Origin: Latin suffix -ment
Punishment has 2 different meanings across 1 category:
the act of punishing
"The judge decided on immediate punishment for the reckless driving incident."
The act or process of punishing, imposing and/or applying a sanction.
"The judge announced that the punishment would begin immediately after the verdict was read."
In plain English: Punishment is when someone gets punished for doing something wrong, usually by facing an unpleasant consequence.
"The teacher gave the student extra homework as punishment for being late."
Usage: Punishment refers to the penalty imposed on someone who has broken a rule rather than the abstract concept of justice itself. Use this word when describing specific actions like fines or detention that follow an offense.
The word punishment comes from the Old French verb punir, meaning "to punish." It entered English via Middle English and replaced the earlier native term wīte.