reprisal

English

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reprisal

/ɹɪˈpɹaɪzəl/

Rhymes with -aɪzəl

Where it comes from

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

noun reprisals

countable, uncountable An act of retaliation.
archaic, countable, uncountable Something taken from an enemy in retaliation.
archaic, countable, uncountable The act of taking something from an enemy by way of retaliation or indemnity. debatable ground, on which incursions and reprisals continued to take place

Translations

Every language

noun retaliation

Español	represalia
한국어	보복 bobok
日本語	報復 hōfuku
Français	représailles
Deutsch	Vergeltungsmaßnahme, Repressalie, Vergeltungsschlag, Vergeltungsakt
Italiano	ritorsione
Русский	распра́ва raspráva, отве́тная ме́ра otvétnaja méra

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MLA

"reprisal." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/reprisal. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

reprisal. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/reprisal

Chicago

"reprisal." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/reprisal.

BibTeX

@misc{reprisal_2026,
  title = {reprisal},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/reprisal},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}