penal

penal is defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913) with 1 sense. The full text of each entry is reproduced verbatim below.

Definitions

1.Of or pertaining to punishment, to penalties, or to crimes and offenses; pertaining to criminal jurisprudence: as: (a) Enacting or threatening punishment; as, a penal statue; the penal code. (b) Incurring punishment; subject to a penalty; as, a penalact of offense. (c) Inflicted as punishment; used as a means of punishment; as, a penal colony or settlement. "Adamantine chains and penal fire." Milton. Penal code (Law), a code of laws concerning crimes and offenses and their punishment. -- Penal laws, Penal statutes (Law), laws prohibited certain acts, and imposing penalties for committing them. -- Penal servitude, imprisonment with hard labor, in a prison, in lieu of transportation. [Great Brit.] -- Penal suit, Penal action (Law), a suit for penalties.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Definitions: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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