Etymologically
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retribution

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Pronunciation

  • /ˌɹɛt.ɹɪˈbju.ʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English retribucioun,[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman retribucioun and retribution,[5][6][3][7] and directly borrowed from Late Latin retribūtiō (“recompense, repayment; punishment”),[5][6][8][9][10] a noun of action from the past participle of Latin retribuō (“to hand back, repay”),[6][11][3] formed from re- (“back”) and tribuō (“to assign, allot”),[6][9][11] the source of tribute.[6][12] The Latin word is in the Vulgate and in Tertullian, late in the 2nd century.[5] Klein credits John Wycliffe with bringing the word into English.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Repayment or recompense for a service or a good deed, and in theology reward or punishment after death according to one's life: both about 1384, in the early version of the Wycliffite Bible,[5][11] where Colossians 3:24 says "of the Lord ȝe schulen take retribucioun, or ȝeldinge aȝen, of heritage".[2]

Semantic evolution

At first the word meant anything given in return for past good or evil; modern use has narrowed it to evil given for evil done.[6][13] Weekley compares the same worsening in retaliate and resent.[13] Barnhart dates the sense of deserved punishment to 1570 and thinks it grew out of the theological sense of divine reward or punishment;[11] the OED, however, has punishment for wrongdoing already before 1425.[5] The day of retribution, the Day of Judgement, follows Latin diēs retribūtiōnis of the Vulgate.[5][6] The older sense of repayment for a service died out in the 19th century.[5][8] Johnson (1755) still defined the word as "repayment; return accommodated to the action".[14]

Timeline

  • c. 1384 – repayment, recompense; divine reward or punishment, in the Wycliffite Bible.[5][11]
  • before 1400 – day of retribution.[5]
  • before 1425 – punishment for wrongdoing.[5]
  • 1570 – deserved punishment, retaliation (Barnhart's date).[11]
  • 1583 – repayment of something owed (obsolete by 1850).[5]
  • 1678 – retributive.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Punishment or vengeance for a wrong, a crime or an injury: The rebels feared retribution from the new regime.[15][7][5]
  2. Something given or demanded in return, especially as punishment.[7][15]
  3. (theology) Reward or punishment given by God after death according to a person's life.[5][8]
  4. (obsolete, 1384–1826) Repayment or recompense for a service or a good deed.[5][8]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  10. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  12. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  13. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  15. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins