means A penalty is a punishment imposed for breaking a rule or law, or, in sport, a disadvantage given to a team or player for an infringement.

from From the Latin 'poena' meaning 'punishment' or 'pain' — itself a cousin of the Greek 'poine,' 'blood-money' or 'penalty for bloodshed,' a sum paid in vengeance. That root flows through Old French 'penalite' before settling into English. The same 'poena' quietly haunts 'pain,' 'penal,' 'punish,' and even 'subpoena' (literally 'under penalty') — a whole family of words descended from the idea that wrongdoing must hurt.