retaliation

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /rɪˌtæliˈeɪʃən/ UK /rɪˌtæliˈeɪʃən/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
the act of returning an injury or wrong for one received; reprisal

The strike was launched in retaliation for the border attack.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the act of returning an... reprisal revenge vengeance retribution reciprocationcounterattackpayback

Opposites

forgiveness pardon clemency

Word family

Related forms retaliate retaliatorytalion

Etymology

From retaliate + -ion, from Latin retaliare ('to pay back in kind'), from re- ('back') + talio ('retaliation, punishment in kind'), from talis ('such, of such a kind').

retaliare Latin talio Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# retaliation

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /rɪˌtæliˈeɪʃən/
**IPA (UK):** /rɪˌtæliˈeɪʃən/

## Meanings
1. the act of returning an injury or wrong for one received; reprisal

## Examples
- The strike was launched in retaliation for the border attack.

## Synonyms
- reprisal
- revenge
- vengeance
- retribution
- reciprocation
- counterattack
- payback

## Antonyms
- forgiveness
- pardon
- clemency

## Related Forms
- retaliate
- retaliatory
- talion

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: retaliare
- Root: talio

## Etymology
From retaliate + -ion, from Latin retaliare ('to pay back in kind'), from re- ('back') + talio ('retaliation, punishment in kind'), from talis ('such, of such a kind').

## AI Etymology
Retaliation comes from retaliate + -ion, from Latin retaliare ('to pay back in kind'), from re- ('back') + talio ('retaliation, punishment in kind'), from talis ('such, of such a kind'). The historical chain includes Latin retaliare and Latin talio. Older glosses in the chain include "to pay back in kind", "back", "retaliation, punishment in kind", and "such, of such a kind", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, retaliation is best read as compound, suffixal formation, and borrowing, yielding an English noun shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a noun, with the sense "the act of returning an injury or wrong for one received; reprisal". related forms include retaliate, retaliatory, and talion. The result is an English noun whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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