Many people think that the death penalty is too severe a punishment for any crime.

punishment 是名词，来自动词 punish（惩罚）加上名词后缀 -ment。punish 本身来自拉丁语 poena（惩罚），后缀 -ment 表示行为或结果。punishment 指"惩罚、处罚"，是对违法或违规行为施加的制裁措施。