''reprisal'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260727004347-00-⌔

reprisal - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Noun

reprisal (countable and uncountable, plural reprisals)

• An act of retaliation.
• (archaic) Something taken from an enemy in retaliation.
• (archaic) The act of taking something from an enemy by way of retaliation or indemnity.
  • ✤ debatable ground, on which incursions and reprisals continued to take place¹

Etymology

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).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɹɪˈpɹaɪzəl/
  • Audio (Southern England): 🔊
• Rhymes: -aɪzəl

Printed 2026-07-27.

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Footnotes

1. 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter I, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC: ↩