on pain of

O o

Definitions of on pain of words

noun on pain of physical suffering or distress, as due to injury, illness, etc. 1
noun on pain of a distressing sensation in a particular part of the body: a back pain. 1
noun on pain of mental or emotional suffering or torment: I am sorry my news causes you such pain. 1
noun on pain of pains. laborious or careful efforts; assiduous care: Great pains have been taken to repair the engine perfectly. the suffering of childbirth. 1
noun on pain of Informal. an annoying or troublesome person or thing. 1
verb with object on pain of to cause physical pain to; hurt. 1

before 1250

One of the 11% oldest English words

1250-1300; Middle English peine punishment, torture, pain < Old French < Latin poena penalty, pain < Greek poinḗ penalty

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 96% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer