Requite

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ɹɪˈkwaɪt/

Definitions

1. To make an appropriate return or repayment for something received, whether as a reward for kindness or as punishment for an offense
2. To return or repay something in kind, either as a reward for a favor or as a penalty for a wrong
3. To give back something equivalent in response to an action, serving as either recompense for good deeds or retribution for harmful ones

Etymology: The verb "requite" is a fine example of a word that was built twice from the same material. Its oldest ancestor is Latin "quiētus", meaning "at rest" or "quiet", the past participle of "quiēscere", to rest or fall still. Through Old French "quitte", meaning "free" or "released", that idea of being at rest became the idea of being free of a debt, and from there French formed "quitter", to set free or to settle up. English took this as "quiten", meaning to pay, acquit, or repay, and later "requiten", to pay back. The modern form was then reshaped by a second borrowing. Old French "requiter", "to free or liberate again", carried the prefix "re-" ("again" or "back") onto the same stem. English speakers combined the two lines, so "requite" carries both the Middle English "re-" and the French "re-" in its history. The result is a word whose core sense has stayed the same for centuries: making a return for something received, whether a kindness or an injury.

Synonyms: reciprocate, avenge, reward, repay, retaliate

Antonyms: ignore, neglect, forgive, pardon, excuse