on pain of
English edit
Etymology edit
From on + pain (“suffering inflicted as punishment or penalty”) + of;[1] compare French sous peine de.
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɒn ˈpeɪn əv/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ɑn ˈpeɪn əv/
Prepositional phrase edit
- Used to warn of consequences if a specified act is done or not done: subject to the punishment of (some penalty); or (generally) subject to the circumstance of (some thing).
- Synonyms: under pain of, upon pain of
- 1595 December 9 (first known performance), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedie of King Richard the Second. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Simmes for Androw Wise, […], published 1597, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:
- On paine of death, no perſon be ſo bold, / Or daring, hardy, as to touch the liſtes, / Except the Martiall and ſuch officers / Appoynted to direct theſe faire deſignes.
- [1629 (first performance), B[en] Jonson, The New Inne. Or, The Light Heart. […], London: […] Thomas Harper, for Thomas Alchorne, […], published 1631, →OCLC, Act II, scene vi:
- [N]o flattery for't: / No lick-foote, paine of looſing your proboſcis: […]]
- 1690, [John] Dryden, Don Sebastian, King of Portugal: […], London: […] Jo. Hindmarsh, […], →OCLC, Act IV, page 105:
- Seb[astian]. […] [M]y duty, then, / To interpoſe; on pain of my diſpleasure, / Betwixt your Swords[.] / Dor[ax]. On pain of Infamy / He ſhould have diſobey'd.
- 1912 October, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Tarzan of the Apes”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as “Out to Sea”, in Tarzan of the Apes, New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, 1914 June, →OCLC, page 16:
- Translated, it was a warning to the Claytons to refrain from reporting the loss of the revolvers, or from repeating what the old sailor had told them—to refrain on pain of death.
- 1943 January, Irving Chernev, “Chess Thrillers”, in Chess Review:
- The White Queen is offered for sacrifice six times in succession, and must be refused each time on pain of checkmate!
Translations edit
subject to the punishment or (generally) circumstance of
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See also edit
References edit
- ^ “on (also under, upon, etc.) pain of ——, phrase” under “pain, n.1”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2021; “on pain of, phrase”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Further reading edit
- “on/under pain of death”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
- “on/under pain of death” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.
- “on/under pain of something” (US) / “on/under pain of something” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.