Dictionary entry

Punishment

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Pun″ish‐ment (?), n. 1. The act of punishing.

2. Any pain, suffering, or loss inflicted on a person because of a crime or offense.

I never gave them condign punishment. Shak.

The rewards and punishments of another life. Locke.

3. (Law) A penalty inflicted by a court of justice on a convicted offender as a just retribution, and incidentally for the purposes of reformation and prevention.