“Punishment” 指“惩罚;处罚;刑罚”,即因做错事或违法而受到的制裁或后果。(也可指更广义的“折磨、苦头”,如 take a lot of punishment。)
/ˈpʌnɪʃmənt/
The punishment was a warning, not a harsh penalty.
这次惩罚是一种警告,并非严厉的处罚。
In the novel, the hero struggles to accept punishment for a crime he didn’t commit, exposing flaws in the justice system.
在小说中,主人公为自己并未犯下的罪承受惩罚,从而揭示了司法体系的缺陷。
“Punishment” 来自中古英语 punishment,源头可追溯到古法语 punir(惩罚),进一步源于拉丁语 punire(惩处、纠正),与“赔偿、赎罪”的观念相关,体现了“通过惩处来纠正行为”的传统意义。