Meaning

noun the act of punishing

noun a payment required for not fulfilling a contract

noun the disadvantage or painful consequences of an action or condition

originFrom Middle French pénalité, from pénal, from Latin poenālis, from poena, borrowing of Ancient Greek ποινή (poinḗ), from Proto-Hellenic *kʷoinā́, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷoynéh₂, comprising *kʷey- + *-néh₂.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0