reprisal
noun
[ rɪˈprʌɪz(ə)l ]
• an act of retaliation.
• "three youths died in the reprisals which followed"
Similar:
retaliation,
counterattack,
counterstroke,
comeback,
revenge,
vengeance,
retribution,
requital,
recrimination,
an eye for an eye,
a tooth for a tooth,
tit for tat,
getting even,
redress,
repayment,
payback,
lex talionis,
a taste of one's own medicine,
ultion,
a Roland for an Oliver,
Origin:
late Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French reprisaille, from medieval Latin reprisalia (neuter plural), based on Latin repraehens- ‘seized’, from the verb repraehendere (see reprehend). The current sense dates from the early 18th century.
