reprisal

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman reprisaille (French représaille), from Old Italian ripresaglia (Italian rappresaglia), from ripreso, past participle of riprendere (“to take back”), from Latin reprendere, earlier reprehendere (see reprehend).

noun

  1. An act of retaliation.
  2. (archaic) Something taken from an enemy in retaliation.
  3. (archaic) The act of taking something from an enemy by way of retaliation or indemnity.

Attribution / Disclaimer All definitions come directly from Wiktionary using the Wiktextract library. We do not edit or curate the definitions for any words, if you feel the definition listed is incorrect or offensive please suggest modifications directly to the source (wiktionary/reprisal), any changes made to the source will update on this page periodically.