retalio

Forms

retāliō (present infinitive retāliāre, perfect active retāliāvī, supine retāliātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin re- + tāliō (“punishment in kind”) as a verb of the first conjugation.^[2][1] Etymonline takes tāliō itself to be from, or influenced by, tālis (“such”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Aulus Gellius (c. 165 AD) has it in the maxim quod imprudentiā factum est, retaliari per imprudentiam debet (“what was done through carelessness must be repaid through carelessness”).^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The OLD defines it as making amends for a wrong by an equal punishment.^[2] Neo-Latin writers used it more widely for paying back, as Capito and Dorpius did,^[6] and Erasmus, More and Melanchthon have it.^[6] English retaliate (1610s), from its past participle, was at first used of returning kindness; from the 1630s it was used of injury.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 165 AD – Aulus Gellius uses it of repaying a careless act in kind.^[4][5]
• 1610s – English forms retaliate from its past participle.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To requite (a wrong) with an equal punishment, retaliate.^[2][4][1]
2. (New Latin) To pay back, repay in kind.^[6]

Related words

• English retaliate

Usage notes

Neo-Latin also had a noun retalio, genitive retalionis, “retaliation”, used by Luther in 1514 and by Zasius in 1519.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de