Punishment, n.
1. The act of punishing.
2. Any pain, suffering, or loss inflicted on a person because of a crime or offense. I never gave them condign punishment. Shak. The rewards and punishments of another life. Locke.
3. (Law)
A penalty inflicted by a court of justice on a convicted offender as a just retribution, and incidentally for the purposes of reformation and prevention.
Shades of meaning
Fernald lists punishment only as an antonym, under mercy, pardon, propitiation.
He lists it without comment; the entries above explain its neighbors.
Synonyms
none given