Retaliation
RETALIATION, repayment of like with like, especially the return of hostile action, injuries or wrongs by similar action or injury, as in the primitive theory of punishment, an " eye for an eye," " tooth for a tooth." The Late Lat. retaliare was formed from tails, such as, of the same quality as ; and this source also gave talio, talionis, the name of this type of punishment. (See PUNISHMENT, THEORY or, and ROMAN LAW, The Twelve Tables.) A special form of retaliation is familiar in the imposition of differential import duties against the goods of a particular country (see TARIFFS and PROTECTION).
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
