音読み: バツ・バチ
訓読み: ばっする
画数: 14
部首: 罒（あみがしら）
Meaning
Penalty / Punishment / Penalty mark
- 罰 — punishment; penalty
- 罰する — to punish; to penalize
- 罰金 — fine; monetary penalty
- 罰則 — penalty rules; enforcement clause
- 天罰 — “divine punishment”; punishment from heaven
More examples ▼
罰 is the idea of punishment for wrongdoing — being judged, corrected, or having to “pay” for what you did.
Words like 罰金 (fine) and 処罰 (disciplinary punishment) are formal, while 天罰 (“heaven’s punishment”) feels dramatic or moral.
In casual speech you even hear バツ as a slangy “X mark,” like a wrong answer or “you’re in trouble.”
罪 means “crime” or “guilt.”
罰 is what comes after that guilt — the penalty.
So the natural flow is: 罪 (wrongdoing) → 罰 (punishment). In Japanese thinking, the words sit as a pair.
罰則 — penalty rules / enforcement clause.