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RETALIATION
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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 talis, such as, of the same quality as; and this source also gave talio, talionis, the name of this type of punishment. (See PUNISHMENT, THEORY OF, and ROMAN LAW, ยง 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).