Meanings
nounreprisal (countable and uncountable, plural reprisals)
plural reprisals
- countableuncountableAn act of retaliation.
- archaiccountableuncountableSomething taken from an enemy in retaliation.
- archaiccountableuncountableThe act of taking something from an enemy by way of retaliation or indemnity.
debatable ground, on which incursions and reprisals continued to take place
1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter I, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Latinreprendere
- Old Italianripresaglia
- Anglo-Normanreprisaille
- Englishreprisal
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).
More words from Anglo-Norman, Old Italian, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Czech odplata, represe
- odplataretaliation
- represeretaliation
- represálieretaliation
- odvetaretaliation
Finnish kosto, kostoisku
- kostoretaliation
- kostoiskuretaliation
French représailles
- représaillesretaliation
German Vergeltungsmaßnahme, Repressalie
- Vergeltungsmaßnahmeretaliation
- Repressalieretaliation
- Vergeltungsschlagretaliation
- Vergeltungsaktretaliation
Hungarian megtorlás
- megtorlásretaliation
Irish díoltas
- díoltasretaliation
Italian ritorsione
- ritorsioneretaliation
Japanese 報復
- 報復 (hōfuku)retaliation
Korean 보복
- 보복 (bobok)retaliation
Māori ngakinga
- ngakingaretaliation
Norwegian Bokmål represalie
- represalieretaliation
Russian распра́ва, отве́тная ме́ра
- распра́ва (raspráva)retaliation
- отве́тная ме́ра (otvétnaja méra)retaliation
Scottish Gaelic dìoghaltas, aicheamhail
- dìoghaltasretaliation
- aicheamhailretaliation
Spanish represalia
- represaliaretaliation
Swedish vedergällning
- vedergällningretaliation
Turkish misilleme
- misillemeretaliation
Ukrainian розпра́ва
- розпра́ва (rozpráva)retaliation
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with reprisal
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
reprisal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reprisal
MLA
“reprisal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reprisal. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “reprisal,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reprisal.
Source: reprisal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.