on pain of
English
editEtymology
editFrom 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/
Preposition
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
editsubject to the punishment or (generally) circumstance of
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See also
editReferences
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.