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retribution

UK/ˌɹɛt.ɹɪˈbju.ʃən/US/ˌɹɛt.ɹɪˈbju.ʃən/
nounC1Common in everyday speech and writing · #6,564 of 15,258neutral

Retribution is punishment given as deserved payment for wrong. Divine retribution, swift retribution, fear retribution.

It is one of the recognised aims of criminal punishment, alongside deterrence, protection and reform, and the retributive argument is that a wrong deserves punishment in itself rather than because of any good the punishment does.

Definitions of retribution

  1. 1nounretributionPunishment given as deserved payment for wrong.C1

    “The villagers feared retribution from the gang if they spoke to the police.”

retribution is a punishment.

Where it comes from

Latin retribuere means to pay back — re, back, plus tribuere, to assign or pay. Tribute is a relative.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *tréyes

  2. Latin

    retribuo — repay

  3. English, today

    retribution

From Latin retribuo (“repay”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

retribution in the wild

  • The Bible refers to divine retribution as, in most cases, being delayed or "treasured up" to a future time.

    Divine retribution

  • Sight of God's supernatural works and retribution would militate against faith in God's Word.

    Divine retribution

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.