retaliatory

Etymology

It is formed from English retaliate + -ory.^[2][3] The verb, recorded from 1606, comes from Latin retāliātus, the past participle of retāliō (“to pay back in kind”),^[3][2] first found in Aulus Gellius in the 2nd century AD,^[2] from re- (“back”) and tāliō (“exaction of payment in kind”),^[3][2] from or influenced by tālis (“suchlike”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of the nature of retaliation; vindictive, vengeful: 1745, in T. Hanmer's edition of Shakespeare's works.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The adjective arose after the verb had moved from returning kindness to returning injury: Etymonline dates the hostile sense of retaliate to the 1630s, and the OED marks the kindly senses obsolete.^[3][2] The OED records the rival adjective retaliative earlier, while Etymonline dates it to 1819 and finds that it leans more to "vindictive, revengeful".^[2][3] In the 20th century the word was used of military force held ready to strike back, as in Dean Acheson's "retaliatory air power", quoted by Merriam-Webster Unabridged.^[4]

Timeline

• 1745 – of the nature of retaliation.^[2] Etymonline dates it to 1783, and the 1989 edition of the OED to 1813.^[3][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Done in retaliation, or tending to retaliate; returning a hostile act in kind: The new duties prompted retaliatory tariffs from its trading partners.^[4][2][1]

Word family

• unretaliatory

Related words

• retaliate
• retaliation
• retaliative
• talion

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press