talion

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle French talion, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin talis (“such”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtalɪən/

Noun

talion (uncountable)

1. Retaliation; retribution.
   • 1973, Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow:

     Simple talion may be fine for wartime, but politics between wars demands symmetry and a more elegant idea of justice, even to the point of masquerading, a bit decadently, as mercy.

Anagrams

• Latino, Latino-, Natoli, NoLIta, latino, lation

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Esperanto

Noun

talion

1. accusative singular of talio

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French

Noun

talion m (uncountable)

1. retaliation

Further reading

• “talion”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Middle French

Etymology

First known attestation in 1395, borrowed from Latin tāliō.

Noun

talion f (plural talions)

1. punishment consisting of the offender having done to him or her what he or she has done to the victim

Descendants

• → English: talion
• French: talion

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (talion, supplement)