penal

• pænal (archaic, hypercorrect)
• pænall (obsolete, hypercorrect)
• penall (obsolete)
• pœnal (archaic)
• pœnall (obsolete)

From Old French peinal, from Medieval Latin penalis, from Latin poenalis, from poena (“punishment”), from Ancient Greek ποινή (poinḗ, “punishment”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷoynéh₂.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpiːnəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːnəl
• Homophone: penile (one pronunciation)

penal (not comparable)

1. Of or relating to punishment.

   penal servitude

2. Subject to punishment; punishable.

   a penal offence

3. Serving as a place of punishment.

   a penal colony

4. Exorbitant.

   a penal rate of interest.

• 'plane, Alpen, Nepal, Palen, Plean, palen, panel, plane, plena

From pena +‎ -al.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [pəˈnal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [peˈnal]
• Rhymes: -al

penal m or f (masculine and feminine plural penals)

1. penal, criminal

• colònia penal
• penalitzar

penal m (plural penals)

1. (ball games) penalty

• àrea de penal

• “penal”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “penal”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “penal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “penal” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

14th century. From pena (“stone”) +‎ -al.

• IPA^(key): /peˈnal/

penal m (plural penais)

1. shorter, lateral wall of a house
   • 1429, M. Lucas Alvarez & M. J. Justo Martín (eds.), Fontes documentais da Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. Pergameos da serie Bens do Arquivo Histórico Universitario (Anos 1237-1537). Santiago: Consello da Cultura Galega, page 307:

     huna estrema de boa parede des lo canto mays de baixo do penal da dita casa […] asta huna crus (+) que asignalamos e fezemos por marqua e deuision enna parede da orta de vos o dito liçençiado e vosos yrmâôs

     [We shall build] a boundary, made of good wall, from the extreme of the lateral wall of that house […] till a cross (+) that we have signalled and done as mark and division in the wall of the garden that belongs to you, the aforementioned lawyer, and to your brothers

2. supporting wall

   Synonym: parede mestra

3. each one of the slabs which tops a wall to protect it from the rain
4. eaves

   Synonyms: beirado, beiril, sobrepena, sopena, topete

From Late Latin poenalis (“penal”).

• IPA^(key): /peˈnal/

penal m or f (plural penais)

1. penal (of or relating to punishment)

penal m (plural penais)

1. prison

   Synonyms: cadea, cárcere, trenla

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “penal”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “penal”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “penal”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “penal”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “penal”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

penal m (feminine singular penala, masculine plural penai, feminine plural penales)

1. penal

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: pe‧nal

From Latin poenālis.^[1][2] By surface analysis, pena (“punishment”) +‎ -al.

penal m or f (plural penais)

1. penal (related to punishment, often in legal context)

• penalmente

From German Pennal, from Latin pennale, from penna (“feather”). Likely reinforced by Ukrainian and Russian пенал (penal). By surface analysis, pena (“feather”) +‎ -al.

penal m (plural penais)

1. (Paraná, Santa Catarina) pencil case

   Synonym: estojo

From pênalti.

penal m (plural penais)

1. (Brazil, soccer) penalty

   Synonyms: (Portugal) penálti, (Brazil) pênalti

• “penal”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025

Borrowed from Latin poenalis or French pénal.

penal m or n (feminine singular penală, masculine plural penali, feminine and neuter plural penale)

1. penal

Borrowed from Late Latin poenālis.

• IPA^(key): /peˈnal/ [peˈnal]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: pe‧nal

penal m or f (masculine and feminine plural penales)

1. penal

penal m (plural penales)

1. a kind of prison
2. (soccer) penalty

• “penal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024

• Nepal, panel, plena

Borrowed from Spanish penal, from Late Latin poenālis.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /peˈnal/ [pɛˈn̪al]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: pe‧nal

penál (Baybayin spelling ᜉᜒᜈᜎ᜔)

1. penal

• “penal”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

• Nepal