Retaliate

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ɹɪˈtæl.i.eɪt/

Definitions

1. To respond to an attack or injury by inflicting harm or punishment in return
2. To respond to an offense or aggression by enacting a reciprocal harmful action or punishment as a means of vengeance
3. To take action against someone in return for a perceived injury or insult

Etymology: "Retaliate" comes from Latin "retaliatus," the past participle of "retaliare," meaning "to requite" or "to retaliate." The Latin root is "talio," which means "payment in kind" or "a like for like," and it is tied to "talis," meaning "such" or "of such a kind." The core idea is therefore a reply that matches the original act in kind, so the word has always carried the sense of repaying one thing with another of the same sort. That underlying notion of a matching return is older than the Latin verb. Roman law used "talio" for the principle of exact reciprocity in punishment, the same idea behind the familiar phrase "an eye for an eye." Retaliation in English keeps that sense of a deliberate, measured answer to a wrong, though it has come to mean any harsh counterstrike, not only an exact copy of the original injury.

Synonyms: avenge, revenge, reciprocate

Antonyms: forgive, pardon