Retorsion

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Retorsion \Re*tor"sion\, n.
     Same as {Retortion}.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:



  Retortion \Re*tor"tion\, n. [Cf. F. r['e]torsion. See {Retort},
     v. t.]
     1. Act of retorting or throwing back; reflection or turning
        back. [Written also {retorsion}.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              It was, however, necessary to possess some single
              term expressive of this intellectual retortion.
                                                    --Sir W.
                                                    Hamilton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Law) Retaliation. --Wharton.
        [1913 Webster]

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  RETORSION, war. The name of the act employed by a government to impose the 
  same hard treatment on the citizens or subjects of a state, that the latter 
  has used towards the citizens or subjects of the former, for the purpose of 
  obtaining the removal of obnoxious measures. Vattel, liv. 2, c. 18, Sec. 
  341; De Martens, Precis, liv. 8, c. 2, Sec. 254; Kluber, Droit dos Gens, s. 
  2 c. 1, Sec. 234; Mann. Comm. 105. 
       2. Retorsion signifies also the act by which an individual returns to 
  his adversary evil for evil; as, if Peter call Paul thief, and Paul says you 
  are a greater thief.