rappresaglia

Forms

rappresaglia f (plural rappresaglie)^[1] Old forms include Old Italian rapresaglia, Old Italian represaglia, Old Italian represaia, Old Italian ripresaglia and Old Italian ripresaia.^[2] Devoto–Oli and Sabatini–Coletti give ripresaglia as the archaic form.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin represalia, recorded from the 13th century, a collective noun in -alia from represa (“a taking in return”).^[5][6][3][7] In Medieval Latin presa meant “usurpation” from 807 and “seizure, sequestration”.^[5][8][7] The first syllable was remodelled after the many Italian words with ra-.^[5][4][7] A simple form without it is also recorded, Medieval Latin presalla at Fabriano in 1214, and Pier delle Vigne used praesalia.^[5][8]

Nocentini sees a Romance formation, recorded first in the Medieval Latin form: from preso “taken by force” with the suffix -aglia and the prefix ra-, meaning “the retaking of what had been taken”.^[9] Zingarelli derives it from ripresaglia, “the act of taking back”.^[10] Treccani and Gabrielli trace it to Latin prehendō (“to take”) and reprehendō (“to take back”), and Meyer-Lübke lists it under the latter.^[11][12][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is from Prato in 1275, in the form rapresaglia, for an extraordinary means of obtaining compensation for damages.^[5] This was the medieval right by which a city allowed its citizens to recoup a loss from the goods of a defaulting foreigner or of his fellow citizens.^[6][14][2]

Semantic evolution

Villani (before 1348) uses the word for a coercive measure one state takes against another.^[5] He wrote of peace terms levando ogni rappresaglia, e divieto dall'un comune all'altro (“lifting every reprisal and ban between the two communes”).^[15] DEI records the verb rappresagliare “to seize” in 1699.^[8] The sense “violent reaction to reassert one's rights or take revenge” is dated to 1813.^[5]

Modern international law uses the word for a state's countermeasure against another state's unlawful act.^[6][3][14] It came to mean above all the violent, indiscriminate punishment of the population of an occupied territory, and similar acts of armed groups.^[6][4][14] French has représailles from 1401, from the Medieval Latin word with Italian influence.^[16][8] Meyer-Lübke derived the French, Spanish and Portuguese words from Italian, Nocentini from Medieval Latin.^[13][9]

Timeline

• 807 – Medieval Latin presa “usurpation” is recorded.^[5]
• 1214 – Presalla appears in Medieval Latin at Fabriano.^[5][8]
• 1275 – Rapresaglia is recorded at Prato.^[5]
• Before 1348 – Villani uses rappresaglia for a measure between states.^[5]
• 1401 – French représailles is first recorded.^[16]
• 1699 – Rappresagliare “to seize” is recorded.^[8]
• 1813 – The sense “violent act of revenge” is recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (history) In the Middle Ages, the right granted by a city to a citizen to recover a loss from the goods of a defaulting foreigner.^{[6][3][4][14]}
2. (international law) A reprisal: a state's coercive response to an unlawful act of another state.^{[6][3][10][14]}
3. A violent punitive action by an occupying power against the population of the occupied territory, or by an armed group against the authorities: I soldati incendiarono il paese per rappresaglia.^[6][3][4]
4. Personal retaliation or revenge.^[6][3][4][1]

Word family

• rappresagliare

Related words

• prendere
• riprendere
• French représailles

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
3. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3208
9. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
12. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
13. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
14. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
16. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it