pena
Catalan
Etymology
From Old Occitan pena, from Latin poena, from Ancient Greek ποινή (poinḗ).
Pronunciation
Galician
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈpena̝/
Etymology 1
From Old Galician and Old Portuguese pena (displacing pẽa), from Latin poena, from Ancient Greek ποινή (poinḗ, “penalty, fine, bloodmoney”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷoynéh₂.
Noun
pena f (plural penas)
- punishment, penalty
- 1370, Enrique Cal Pardo (ed.), Colección diplomática medieval do arquivo da catedral de Mondoñedo. Santiago: Consello da Cultura Galega, page 103:
- o bispo et esse Ferrand Bonome por si et por sa moller se obligaron su pena de mill mor. da boa moneda para gardaren a vnna parte aa outra todas estas cousas
- the bishop and this Fernando Bonome, for him and for his wife, compromised themselves, under a penalty of a thousand coins, to respect this agreement
- o bispo et esse Ferrand Bonome por si et por sa moller se obligaron su pena de mill mor. da boa moneda para gardaren a vnna parte aa outra todas estas cousas
- Synonym: castigo
- 1370, Enrique Cal Pardo (ed.), Colección diplomática medieval do arquivo da catedral de Mondoñedo. Santiago: Consello da Cultura Galega, page 103:
- pain; sadness
- 1370, Ramón Lorenzo (ed.), Crónica troiana, A Coruña: Fundación Barrié, page 731:
- en guisa que a sua alma ouuese bẽeyçóm et nõ andase en pena
- so that his soul would be blessed and wouldn't wander in pain
- en guisa que a sua alma ouuese bẽeyçóm et nõ andase en pena
- 1370, Ramón Lorenzo (ed.), Crónica troiana, A Coruña: Fundación Barrié, page 731:
Related terms
- penar
- penitencia
- penitente
- que pena
- vale a pena
Etymology 2
From Old Galician and Old Portuguese pena, from Latin pinna (“feather, wing”), from Proto-Indo-European *péth₂r̥ ~ pth₂én- (“feather, wing”), from *peth₂- (“to fly”).
Noun
pena f (plural penas)
- vanes or blades of a water wheel
- Synonym: aspa
- (archaic) feather
- Synonym: pluma
- (archaic) pelt
- 1409, J. L. Pensado Tomé (ed.), Rufus, Jordanus: Tratado de Albeitaria. Santiago de Compostela: Centro Ramón Piñeiro, page 133:
- coito todo ensenbra con pena de gallina
- all of that boiled together with a hen pelt
- coito todo ensenbra con pena de gallina
- Synonym: pelica
- 1409, J. L. Pensado Tomé (ed.), Rufus, Jordanus: Tratado de Albeitaria. Santiago de Compostela: Centro Ramón Piñeiro, page 133:
Etymology 3

Either from Latin pinna ("feather, wing"; then "merlon, fortress"; then, hypothetically, "rock"), or from Proto-Celtic *kʷennom (“head”).[1][2]
Noun
pena f (plural penas)
Derived terms
References
- “pena” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006-2012.
- “pena” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006-2016.
- “pena” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006-2013.
- "pena" in Santamarina, Antón (coord.): Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega. <http://ilg.usc.es/TILG/>
- “pena” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.
- Cf. Coromines, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1991–1997). Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico. Madrid: Gredos, s.v. peña.
- García Trabazo, José Virgilio (2016), “Prelatin Toponymy of Asturies: a critical review in a historical-comparative perspective”, in Lletres Asturianes, issue 115, retrieved 14 June 2018, pages 51-71
Guinea-Bissau Creole
Etymology
From Portuguese pena. Cognates with Kabuverdianu péna.
Indonesian
Italian
Etymology
From Latin poena, from Ancient Greek ποινή (poinḗ).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈpena/, [ˈpeː.na]
- Hyphenation: pé‧na
Related terms
- appena
- penale
- penare
- valere la pena
- prendersi la pena
- fare pena
- istituto di pena
Verb
pena
- inflection of penare:
- third-person singular present indicative
- second-person singular imperative
Ladin
Etymology
From Latin poena, from Ancient Greek ποινή (poinḗ).
Latin
Alternative forms
- pęna (orthographic variant using the e caudata)
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈpeː.na/
Noun
pēna f (genitive pēnae); first declension
- Alternative form of poena [Mediaeval–early New Latin]
Declension
First declension.
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | pēna | pēnae |
Genitive | pēnae | pēnārum |
Dative | pēnae | pēnīs |
Accusative | pēnam | pēnās |
Ablative | pēnā | pēnīs |
Vocative | pēna | pēnae |
References
- pena in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
- pena in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
- pena in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, pre-publication website, 2005-2016
Old Occitan
Etymology
From Latin poena, from Ancient Greek ποινή (poinḗ).
Synonyms
Portuguese
Etymology 1
From Old Portuguese pena (displacing pẽa), from Latin poena, from Ancient Greek ποινή (poinḗ, “penalty, fine, bloodmoney”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷoynéh₂.
Pronunciation
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈpe.nɐ/
- Hyphenation: pe‧na
Synonyms
- (punishment): castigo, condenação
- (pain; sadness): dor, tristeza
Related terms
- penar
- penitência
- penitente
- que pena
- vale a pena
Etymology 2
From Old Portuguese pena, from Latin penna and pinna, from Proto-Italic *petnā (“feather, wing”), from Proto-Indo-European *péth₂r̥ ~ pth₂én- (“feather, wing”), from *peth₂- (“to fly”).

Pronunciation
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈpe.nɐ/
Noun
pena f (plural penas)
Synonyms
- (feather): pluma
Pronunciation
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈpɛ.nɐ/
Slovak
Etymology
From Proto-Slavic *pěna.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈpɛna/
Noun
pena f (genitive singular peny, nominative plural peny, genitive plural pien, declension pattern of žena)
Declension
Derived terms
- penový
- pienka
Slovene
Etymology
From Proto-Slavic *pěna.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈpèːna/
- Tonal orthography: pẹ́na
Spanish
Etymology
From Old Spanish pena, from Latin poena, from Ancient Greek ποινή (poinḗ).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈpena/
- Hyphenation: pe‧na
Synonyms
Related terms
Turkish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈpɛnɑ/
- Hyphenation: pe‧na