Phrase guide

corporal punishment

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˌkɔː.pəɹ.əl ˈpʌn.ɪʃ.mənt/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A form of punishment achieved by inflicting physical pain on the offender's body.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the infliction of physical injury on someone convicted of committing a crime

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: punishment, penalty, penalization, penalisation

Narrower terms: beating, thrashing, licking, drubbing, lacing, trouncing, whacking, electric shock, execution, executing, capital punishment, death penalty, gauntlet, gantlet, kick in the butt, stoning, lapidation

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

22 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: lyfstraf — form of punishment achieved by inflicting blows to the offender's body
  • Arabic: عُقُوبَة بَدَنِيَّة (ʕuqūba badaniyya) — form of punishment achieved by inflicting blows to the offender's body
  • Bulgarian: теле́сно наказа́ние (telésno nakazánie) — form of punishment achieved by inflicting blows to the offender's body
  • Chinese Mandarin: 體罰 /体罚 (tǐfá) — form of punishment achieved by inflicting blows to the offender's body
  • Czech: tělesný trest — form of punishment achieved by inflicting blows to the offender's body
  • Dutch: lijfstraf — form of punishment achieved by inflicting blows to the offender's body
  • Finnish: ruumiinrangaistus — form of punishment achieved by inflicting blows to the offender's body
  • French: châtiment corporel — form of punishment achieved by inflicting blows to the offender's body
  • German: Körperstrafe — form of punishment achieved by inflicting blows to the offender's body
  • German: Züchtigung — form of punishment achieved by inflicting blows to the offender's body
  • Greek: σωματική ποινή (somatikí poiní) — form of punishment achieved by inflicting blows to the offender's body
  • Hungarian: (testi) fenyítés — form of punishment achieved by inflicting blows to the offender's body
  • Irish: pionós corpartha — form of punishment achieved by inflicting blows to the offender's body
  • Japanese: 体罰 (taibatsu) — form of punishment achieved by inflicting blows to the offender's body
  • Korean: 체벌 (chebeol) — form of punishment achieved by inflicting blows to the offender's body
  • Polish: kara cielesna — form of punishment achieved by inflicting blows to the offender's body
  • Portuguese: punição corporal — form of punishment achieved by inflicting blows to the offender's body
  • Romanian: pedeapsă corporală — form of punishment achieved by inflicting blows to the offender's body
  • Russian: теле́сное наказа́ние (telésnoje nakazánije) — form of punishment achieved by inflicting blows to the offender's body
  • Spanish: castigo corporal — form of punishment achieved by inflicting blows to the offender's body
  • Swedish: aga — form of punishment achieved by inflicting blows to the offender's body
  • Vietnamese: nhục hình — form of punishment achieved by inflicting blows to the offender's body