penal
Americanadjective
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of, relating to, or involving punishment, as for crimes or offenses.
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prescribing punishment.
penal laws.
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constituting punishment.
He survived the years of penal hardship.
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used as a place of confinement and punishment.
a penal colony.
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subject to or incurring punishment.
a penal offense.
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payable or forfeitable as a penalty.
a penal sum.
adjective
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of, relating to, constituting, or prescribing punishment
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payable as a penalty
a penal sum
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used or designated as a place of punishment
a penal institution
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of penal
1400–50; late Middle English < Latin poenālis, equivalent to poen ( a ) penalty (< Greek poinḗ fine) + -ālis -al 1
Explanation
Anything described as penal has something to do with legal punishment. Prisons are one important part of a country's penal system. Whenever you see the adjective penal, you'll know it has to do with court-ordered punishment. A government's penal code, for example, is a list of crimes and the punishments imposed for each of them. You might notice how similar penal is to the word penalty — in fact, they both stem from the same Latin word, poena, and the Greek root poine, both of which mean "punishment."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Under the islands’ penal code, a single fender-bender with an endemic animal can carry severe consequences.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
In fall 2025, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law AB 847, which amended the penal code to allow oversight commissions to receive confidential sheriff’s department documents and review them in closed session.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
The interim government is prosecuting Atef Najib under the 1949 penal code, a statute written for ordinary murder, not for crimes against humanity.
From Slate ● May 27, 2026
Russian human rights activist Osechkin, 44, who lives in France under police protection, said Ukrainian prisoners are often made "invisible" within the penal system, and has even documented cases of their names being changed.
From Barron's ● May 8, 2026
He was one generation removed from a slave ship, living in a country best described as an African penal colony, and he was a free man, with every benefit of education.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
