retribution

English

Etymology

Latin, from retribuere (“assign again”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˌɹɛtrɪˈbjuʃɒn/, X-SAMPA: /%r\EtrI"bjuSQn/

Noun

retribution (plural retributions)

1. Punishment inflicted in the spirit of moral outrage or personal vengeance.
   • 1983, Richard A. Posner, The economics of justice, page 208:

     Whereas retribution focuses on the offender's wrong, retaliation focuses on the impulse of the victim (or of those who sympathize with him) to strike back at the offender.

   • 1999, Barbara Hanawalt, Medieval crime and social control, pg. 73

   1. Revenge is for an injury; retribution is for a wrong.

   2. Retribution sets an internal limit to the amount of the punishment according to the seriousness of the wrong; revenge need not.

   3. Revenge is personal; the agent of retribution need have no special or personal tie to the victim of the wrong for which he exacts retribution.

   4. Revenge involves a particular emotional tone, pleasure in the suffering of another, while retribution need involve no emotional tone.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:revenge

Hypernyms

• punishment

Translations

punishment inflicted in the spirit of moral outrage or personal vengeance

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 報應 (cmn), 报应 (cmn) (bàoyìng), 惡報 (cmn), 恶报 (cmn) (èbào)

• Dutch: vergelding (nl)
• Finnish: rangaistus (fi)
• French: vendetta (fr), châtiment (fr) m, punition (fr) f
• German: Vergeltung (de) f

• Japanese: 報復 (ja) (ほうふく, hōfuku)
• Macedonian: одмазда (mk) (ódmazda) f, возврат (mk) (vózvrat) m
• Romanian: răzbunare (ro)
• Russian: возмездие (ru) (vozmézdije) n, воздаяние (ru) (vozdajánije) n
• Swedish: vedergällning (sv) c

Derived terms

• retributionist
• retributive