Meaning

noun the act of imposing something (as a tax or an embargo)

noun an act causing pain or damage

noun something or someone that causes trouble; a source of unhappiness

originFrom Latin īnflīctiōnem (“imposition”), from Latin īnflīctus, from in- + flīctus, past participle of īnflīgō (“to knock or strike against”), from in- + flīgō (“strike”) (whence in-). By surface analysis, inflict + -ion.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0