Penalized

How to spell penalized

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce penalized

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does penalized mean?

1. verbSubjected someone or something to a punishment, fine, or disadvantage for breaking a rule or falling short of a standard.

Penalized in a sentence

• The referee penalized the team for the late tackle.

• Customers who pay late are penalized with an extra charge.

Where does penalized come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is built on 'penal', which English took in the 1400s from the Latin poenalis, meaning 'relating to punishment'. That adjective rests on poena, the Latin noun for a penalty, fine, or punishment, which the Romans themselves borrowed from the Greek poine, meaning 'blood-money' or the price paid to settle a wrong. The verb 'penalize' was assembled later, around the early 1800s, by attaching the productive suffix '-ize' (meaning 'to make subject to') to the penal root, and 'penalized' is simply its past tense. The same poena ancestor lurks inside 'penalty', 'pain', 'punish', and even 'subpoena' (literally 'under penalty'). Because the verb keeps a single 'l' and a long first syllable, writers sometimes hesitate over whether to double the 'l' or which '-ize'/'-ise' ending to use.

How the word is built

• pen- (from Latin poena: punishment)
• -al (adjective suffix)
• -ize (to make/do)
• -ed (past tense)

British and American spelling

Penalized is the American spelling. British English spells it penalised.