chasten
UK[ˈtʃeɪs(ə)n]US[ˈtʃeɪs(ə)n]
v
to make someone feel sorry for something they have done
v
to make someone less confident or to punish them in order to improve their behavior
Morpheme Breakdown
chast
en
chast
pure
en
verb suffix
Etymology
the word 'chasten' originates from the latin adjective castus, meaning pure or morally clean, which itself may derive from a proto-indo-european root related to cutting away impurity. this latin root entered english via old french chastier, evolving into the middle english chasten. the core semantic journey is from the literal sense of 'purifying' to the figurative and disciplinary sense of correcting or subduing someone's behavior to make them morally or spiritually 'cleaner'. the addition of the germanic verbal suffix '-en' completes the transformation into an action meaning 'to make pure or correct'.
Analysis
Structure: chast (pure) + en (verb suffix)
chast (from latin castus, meaning pure, chaste, morally clean); en (a verb-forming suffix of germanic origin, meaning to make or become).
Examples
the team's defeat served to chasten their overconfidence.
he was chastened by the criticism and promised to do better.
a period of failure can chasten even the most arrogant person.