chastise
[chas-tahyz, chas-tahyz]
verb (used with object), chas·tised, chas·tis·ing.
to discipline, especially by corporal punishment.
to criticize severely.
Archaic. to restrain; chasten.
Archaic. to refine; purify.
RELATED CONTENT
RELATED WORDS
punish, censure, berate, upbraid, castigate, lash, flog, ream, chasten, pummel, scourge, beat, spank, baste, thrash, correct, whip, ferule, skelp
Nearby words
- chassé,
- chaste,
- chaste tree,
- chasten,
- chastening,
- chastisement,
- chastity,
- chastity belt,
- chasuble,
- chat
Origin of chastise
1275–1325; Middle English chastisen, equivalent to chasti(en) to chasten + -s- < ? + -en infinitive suffix
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for chastise
chastise
verb (tr)
Word Origin for chastise
C14 chastisen, irregularly from chastien to chasten
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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chastise
c.1300, chastisen, from Old French chastiier "to warn, advise, instruct; chastise, admonish; punish; dominate, tame" (12c., Modern French châtier), from Latin castigare "to set or keep right, to reprove, chasten, to punish," literally "to make pure" (see castigate). Or perhaps from Middle English chastien (see chasten) + -ise, though this would be early for such a native formation. The form of the modern word "is not easily accounted for" [OED]. Related: Chastised; chastising.
He alone may chastise who loves. [Rabindranath Tagore, "The Crescent Moon," 1913]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper