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reprisal

UK/ɹɪˈpɹaɪzəl/US/ɹɪˈpɹaɪzəl/
nounC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,375 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: reprisals

A reprisal is an act of revenge taken against an enemy. Fear of reprisal, in reprisal for, brutal reprisals.

It is a named category in the law of war, where reprisals against civilians are prohibited outright. In ordinary use it means retaliation somebody expects, as in speaking out without fear of reprisal.

Definitions of reprisal

  1. 1nounreprisalAn act of revenge taken against an enemy.C1

    “The villagers were too scared of reprisals to tell the police what they had seen.”

reprisal is a revenge.

Where it comes from

Italian ripresaglia comes from riprendere, to take back, from Latin reprehendere.

  1. Latin

    reprendere

  2. roa-oit

    ripresaglia

  3. Anglo-Norman

    reprisaille

  4. English, today

    reprisal

Built from

  • riprendere · Italian — to take back

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

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

reprisal in the wild

  • The terms "letter of marque" and "privateer" were sometimes used to describe the ships which typically operated under the marque-and-reprisal licences.

    Letter of marque

  • A reprisal is a limited and deliberate violation of international law to punish another sovereign state that has already broken them.

    Reprisal

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.