Castigation (from the Latin ''castigatio'') or chastisement (via the French ''châtiment'') is the infliction of severe (moral or
corporal
Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...
)
punishment. One who administers a castigation is a castigator or ''chastiser''.
In earlier times, castigation specifically meant restoring one to a religiously pure state, called
chastity
Chastity, also known as purity, is a virtue related to temperance. Someone who is ''chaste'' refrains either from sexual activity considered immoral or any sexual activity, according to their state of life. In some contexts, for example when ma ...
. In ancient Rome, it was also a term for the
magistrate
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...
called a
censor (in the original sense, rather than the later politicized evolution), who castigated in the name of the pagan state religion but with the authority of the 'pious' state.
In Christian times, this terminology was adopted but roughly restricted to the physical sphere: chastity became a matter of approved sexual conduct, castigation usually meaning
physical punishment, either as a form of
penance, as a voluntary pious exercise (see
mortification of the flesh) or as educational or other coercion, while the use for other (e.g. verbal) punishments (and criticism etc.) is now often perceived as metaphorical.
Self-castigation is applied by the repentant culprit to himself, for moral and/or religious reasons, notably as
penance.
See also
{{Wiktionary, castigation
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Capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
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Corporal punishment
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Chastisement Chastisement is the infliction of corporal punishment as defined by law.
Minors
English common law allowed parents and others who have "lawful control or charge" of a child to use "moderate and reasonable" chastisement or correction. In the 1860 ...
Punishments
Corporal punishments
de:Züchtigung