rejoinder

Etymology

From Middle French rejoindre, with infinitive used as noun frequent in Law French.

noun

1. (law) The defendant's answer to the replication.
2. A response that answers another response.
3. A quick response that involves disagreement or is witty, especially an answer to a question.
   The simplest rejoinder to all of Daenerys’ justifications is that this bloodshed could have been avoided. She was given a moment to choose, and she chose blind vengeance, the kind that eliminates any benevolence she hoped to bring to the seven kingdoms by burning it right out of the minds of anyone who saw her astride Drogon, mowing down men, women, and children with abandon. 12 May 2019, Alex McLevy, “Westeros faces a disastrous final battle on the penultimate Game of Thrones (newbies)”, in The A.V. Club
4. (US patent law) Re-insertion, typically after allowance of a patent application, of patent claims that had been withdrawn from examination under a restriction requirement.

verb

1. (intransitive) To issue a rejoinder.
2. (transitive) To say as a rejoinder.