telish

T1E1L1I1S1H4
/ˈtɛlɪʃ/

verb

Punish (an innocent person) for the sake of deterrence; subject (a person) to telishment.

OriginAncient Greek τέλος →
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Meanings

verbtelish (third-person singular simple present telishes, present participle telishing, simple past and past participle telished)

present singular third person telishes · participle present telishing · participle past telished · past telished

  1. Punish (an innocent person) for the sake of deterrence; subject (a person) to telishment.

    How is one to limit the risks involved in allowing such systematic deception? How is one to avoid giving anything short of complete discretion to the authorities to telish anyone they like?

    1955, John Rawls, “Two Concepts of Rules”, in The Philosophical Review, LXIV, № 1, page 12

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekτέλος“result”, “end”, loosely “the greater good”
  2. Englishtelish

Coined by John Rawls in his 1955 paper “Two Concepts of Rules”. Probably a portmanteau of the Ancient Greek τέλος (télos, “result”, “end”, loosely “the greater good”) and the English (pun)ish, after telishment.

More words from Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Stiehlhistel
Cite this entry
APA

telish. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/telish

MLA

“telish.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/telish. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “telish,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/telish.

Source: telish on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.