lex talionisn.
/ˌlɛks talɪˈəʊnɪs/, U.S. /ˌlɛks ˌtɑliˈoʊnəs/ The law of retaliation, ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’. (The accusative and ablative forms no longer occur in English contexts.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > reciprocal treatment or return of an action > revenge > [noun] > retaliation or retribution
yieldinga1340
talion1412
retributiona1425
recompensec1425
recompensationa1513
requitement1548
retaliation1581
lex talionis1597
requital1597
retaling1597
taliationa1601
law of retalion1607
talio1611
retail1615
retorsion1637
repercussion1641
retributing1645
reddition1656
retortion1762
poetical justice1796
utu1828
retort1836
quits1865
poetic justice1991
1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke iii. 146 Wherefore I may Lege talionis laugh at incongruity as well as you might at vnformality.
1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. ii. 56 He is presently without any iudgement to haue Legem talionis, that is, like for like, inflicted vpon him.
1646 D. Evance Noble Order 23 Gods Lex talionis is as firme as the lawes of the Meads and Persians.
1731 G. Medley tr. P. Kolb Present State Cape Good-Hope I. 287 They take the Field with their best Force, not only to recover their Wives, but, Lege Talionis, to plunder the Robbers of theirs.
1821 T. Jefferson Autobiogr. in Writ. (1892) I. 60 For other felonies should be substituted hard labor..and in some cases, the Lex Talionis.
1857 J. W. Croker Ess. French Revol. iv. 171 The lex talionis with which the revolutionary Nemesis requited her votaries.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1902; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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