retaliation

Etymology

The OED takes it as borrowed from Medieval Latin retāliātiō (“revenge”), recorded in continental Latin from 1520, formed from the past participle stem of Latin retāliō (“to pay back in kind”).^[2][3] Barnhart instead takes it as formed in English from the Latin verb and -ation,^[4] and the Shorter Oxford sees it as probably from the same root as retaliate, perhaps partly a formation on taliation with the prefix meaning "back".^[5] The Latin verb is formed from re- (“back”) and tāliō (“exaction of payment in kind”),^[6][4][7] itself probably from tālis (“suchlike, of such a kind”).^{[6][8][9][10]} The OED finds no close parallels in the Romance languages, and considers a link with retail possible but remote.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Return or repayment for a service or kindness; requital: 1546, in a work by Joye.^[2] Barnhart dates the word to 1581, and Etymonline to the 1580s, with the sense "return of like for like".^[4][6]

Semantic evolution

At first the word was used of repayment for good as well as for evil;^[6][2] the good sense, a favour returned, died out in the 18th century.^[2] Repayment in kind for injury or insult, revenge, is recorded from 1581,^[2] and an act of this, a reprisal, from 1587.^[2] The law of retaliation, punishment that matches the offence, as in lex talionis, is recorded from 1612.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as "requital; return of like for like", quoting South on severe retaliation or revenge.^[11] The verb retaliate followed the same path, from kindness to injury, in the 17th century.^[6]

Timeline

• 1546 – return for a kindness or service; requital (obsolete by 1738).^[2]
• 1559 – a favour given in return (obsolete by 1766).^[2]
• 1581 – repayment in kind for injury or insult; revenge.^[2][4]
• 1587 – an act of revenge; a reprisal.^[2]
• 1612 – law of retaliation.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of retaliating; repayment in kind, especially of an injury or wrong; revenge: The village was burned in retaliation for the ambush.^[3][2][11]
2. An act of this kind; a reprisal.^[2][3]
3. (obsolete) A return for a kindness or service; requital.^[2][11]

Word family

• counterretaliation
• nonretaliation
• massive retaliation

Related words

• retaliate
• talion
• lex talionis

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.