Meanings
nouncapital punishment (countable and uncountable, plural capital punishments)
plural capital punishments
- countableuncountableThe practice of putting a person to death as a punishment for a crime.
Synonyms: death penalty
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe practice of putting a person to death as a punishment for a crime.
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
nounputting a condemned person to death
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From the original meaning of capital (“relating to the head”); originally referring to executions by beheading or decapitating.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic إِعْدَام, عُقُوبَة الْإِعْدَام
- إِعْدَام (ʔiʕdām)punishment by death — see also death penalty
- عُقُوبَة الْإِعْدَام (ʕuqūbat al-ʔiʕdām)punishment by death — see also death penalty
- عُقُوبَة الْمَوْت (ʕuqūbat al-mawt)punishment by death — see also death penalty
Bengali মৃত্যুদণ্ড
- মৃত্যুদণ্ড (mrittudonḍo)punishment by death — see also death penalty
Bulgarian смъ́ртно наказа́ние
- смъ́ртно наказа́ние (smắrtno nakazánie)punishment by death — see also death penalty
Catalan pena capital
- pena capitalpunishment by death — see also death penalty
Chinese Mandarin 死刑, 極刑 /极刑
- 死刑 (sǐxíng)punishment by death — see also death penalty
- 極刑 /极刑 (jíxíng)punishment by death — see also death penalty
- 死罪 (sǐzuì)punishment by death — see also death penalty
Czech trest smrti
- trest smrtipunishment by death — see also death penalty
Danish dødsstraf
- dødsstrafpunishment by death — see also death penalty
Dutch doodstraf
- doodstrafpunishment by death — see also death penalty
Esperanto mortpuno
- mortpunopunishment by death — see also death penalty
Estonian surmanuhtlus
- surmanuhtluspunishment by death — see also death penalty
Finnish kuolemanrangaistus
- kuolemanrangaistuspunishment by death — see also death penalty
French peine capitale, peine de mort
- peine capitalepunishment by death — see also death penalty
- peine de mortpunishment by death — see also death penalty
German Todesstrafe
- Todesstrafepunishment by death — see also death penalty
Greek θανατική ποινή, έσχατη ποινή
- θανατική ποινή (thanatikí poiní)punishment by death — see also death penalty
- έσχατη ποινή (éschati poiní)punishment by death — see also death penalty
Hindi मृत्युदण्ड, महादण्ड
- मृत्युदण्ड (mŕtyudaṇḍ)punishment by death — see also death penalty
- महादण्ड (mahādaṇḍ)punishment by death — see also death penalty
- सज़ा-ए-मौत (sazā-e-maut)punishment by death — see also death penalty
Hungarian halálbüntetés
- halálbüntetéspunishment by death — see also death penalty
Icelandic dauðarefsing
- dauðarefsingpunishment by death — see also death penalty
Indonesian hukuman mati
- hukuman matipunishment by death — see also death penalty
Irish pionós báis
- pionós báispunishment by death — see also death penalty
Italian pena capitale
- pena capitalepunishment by death — see also death penalty
Japanese 死刑, 極刑
- 死刑 (shikei)punishment by death — see also death penalty
- 極刑 (kyokkei)punishment by death — see also death penalty
- 死罪 (shizai)punishment by death — see also death penalty
Korean 사형
- 사형 (sahyeong)punishment by death — see also death penalty
Latin punitio capitalis, capitis poena
- punitio capitalispunishment by death — see also death penalty
- capitis poenapunishment by death — see also death penalty
Latvian nāvessods
- nāvessodspunishment by death — see also death penalty
Lithuanian mirties bausmė
- mirties bausmėpunishment by death — see also death penalty
Malay hukuman mati
- hukuman matipunishment by death — see also death penalty
Norwegian Bokmål dødsstraff
- dødsstraffpunishment by death — see also death penalty
Polish kara śmierci, najwyższy wymiar kary
- kara śmiercipunishment by death — see also death penalty
- najwyższy wymiar karypunishment by death — see also death penalty
Portuguese pena de morte, pena capital
- pena de mortepunishment by death — see also death penalty
- pena capitalpunishment by death — see also death penalty
Romanian pedeapsă capitală, pedeapsă cu moartea
- pedeapsă capitalăpunishment by death — see also death penalty
- pedeapsă cu moarteapunishment by death — see also death penalty
Russian сме́ртная казнь, вы́сшая ме́ра наказа́ния
- сме́ртная казнь (smértnaja kaznʹ)punishment by death — see also death penalty
- вы́сшая ме́ра наказа́ния (výsšaja méra nakazánija)punishment by death — see also death penalty
- вы́сшая ме́ра (výsšaja méra)punishment by death — see also death penalty
- вы́шка (výška)punishment by death — see also death penalty
- выша́к (vyšák)punishment by death — see also death penalty
Slovak trest smrti
- trest smrtipunishment by death — see also death penalty
Spanish castigo capital, pena capital
- castigo capitalpunishment by death — see also death penalty
- pena capitalpunishment by death — see also death penalty
- pena de muertepunishment by death — see also death penalty
- pena mortalpunishment by death — see also death penalty
- último supliciopunishment by death — see also death penalty
Swedish dödsstraff
- dödsstraffpunishment by death — see also death penalty
Tagalog parusang kamatayan
- parusang kamatayanpunishment by death — see also death penalty
Tamil மரணதண்டனை
- மரணதண்டனை (maraṇataṇṭaṉai)punishment by death — see also death penalty
Thai โทษประหารชีวิต, ประหารชีวิต
- โทษประหารชีวิต (tôot-bprà-hǎan-chii-wít)punishment by death — see also death penalty
- ประหารชีวิต (bprà-hǎan-chii-wít)punishment by death — see also death penalty
Turkish idam cezası, ölüm cezası
- idam cezasıpunishment by death — see also death penalty
- ölüm cezasıpunishment by death — see also death penalty
- idampunishment by death — see also death penalty
Ukrainian сме́ртна ка́ра, ви́ща мі́ра покара́ння
- сме́ртна ка́ра (smértna kára)punishment by death — see also death penalty
- ви́ща мі́ра покара́ння (výšča míra pokaránnja)punishment by death — see also death penalty
Urdu سَزائے مَوت
- سَزائے مَوت (sazāe maut)punishment by death — see also death penalty
Vietnamese tử hình
- tử hìnhpunishment by death — see also death penalty
Welsh dienyddio
- dienyddiopunishment by death — see also death penalty
Cite this entry
APA
capital punishment. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/capital%20punishment
MLA
“capital punishment.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/capital%20punishment. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “capital punishment,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/capital%20punishment.
Source: capital punishment on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.