punire

Punire is an Italian verb meaning to punish. It is transitive and used to describe imposing a penalty on someone or chastising a wrongdoing. In legal contexts it refers to applying sanctions or penalties; in everyday language it can also mean reproving or disciplining someone. The related noun is punizione (punishment). The verb shares roots with other Romance languages, such as French punir and Portuguese punir, and is cognate with the English word punish.

Etymology and usage: Punire derives from Latin punire, related to poena (penalty). It is commonly used in law, moral or social discussions, and news reporting about crimes and sanctions. In modern Italian, it can express both formal penalties and more informal reproach, though the latter is less typical in legal discourse. The noun punizione and the adjective punitivo (punitive) are common derivatives; related verbs include sanzionare (to sanction) and condannare (to condemn).

Conjugation and forms: Punire is an -ire verb with isc in the present tense, a feature of a subset of Italian -ire verbs. Examples of the present indicative are: io punisco, tu punisci, lui punisce, noi puniamo, voi punite, loro puniscono. Other tenses follow regular -ire patterns, with past participle punito and gerund punendo. The present subjunctive is punisca (for all but two forms: punisca, punisca, punisca, puniamo, puniate, puniscano). The verb forms extend to the other tenses as expected for regular -ire verbs with isc- conjugation in the present.

See also: punizione, pena, condannare, sanzionare.