Castigar question

Question

Hello, As an alternative to castigar, the word punir is used in the Real Academia Española's Dictionary (although it's not found in the dictionary on this website).

Therefore, is it ok to used castigar and punir interchangeably with the same meaning of punish?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Subtle...

Going back to the roots castigar would be to criticize in order to get someone to change their behaviour whereas punish is to have already judged and found the person wanting and to mete out, erm, a punishment.

However in normal use (not pedantic) the words are, mas o menus interchangeable.

Answer 2

Adding to what LagartijaVerde said I have lived in Mexico for six year and have never heard anyone use punir. Not on the news, not in print, never. So I would say it is not commonly used, at least not here.

Yes, it's not a word that would spring to mind for me either, perhaps somewhat archaic or at least "academic"? - lagartijaverde, Aug 10, 2013

yes, I think you will have to go back several hundred years to find it in regular use.. - annierats, Aug 10, 2013

hello annie :-) - lagartijaverde, Aug 10, 2013

Answer 3

When discussing English and Spanish, I often talk about the fact that, for some ideas in English, we have 2 (or more) words in English that relate to one word in Spanish, the lesser used word in English being linguistically linked to that in Spanish. For example: speed, velocity - velocidad; whisper, susurrate - susurrar; punish, castigate - castigar. No one has ever pointed out that punish can be translated as punir.

Does anyone here use punir?