lex talionis
- noun
- /lɛks ˌtæliˈoʊnɪs/
- Formal
- Does a certain amount of lex talionis in a society encourage better behavior among persons at large who notice that retribution was indeed delivered?
The technical term for it is lex talionis, the law of retaliation.
- The technical term for it is lex talionis, the law of retaliation.
Examples
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Many legal systems have moved away from lex talionis in favor of more rehabilitative approaches.
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The technical term for it is lex talionis, the law of retaliation.
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Society is not a jungle regulated by the lex talionis but a corpus serving as a host.
Academic text (1993) -
Since it's forbidden to mention the Z-word in a negative fashion, I'll just say that the only thing I wish to take away from them is their adherence to lex talionis.
Blog text (25) -
First, retribution is not lex talionis, the law of retaliation, or "an eye for an eye." (n4)
Academic text (2003) -
Thomist just war theory rejected the concept of lex talionis, arguing that the misdeeds of an adversary do not justify retaliation in kind.
Academic text (2007) -
The idea of lex talionis (innovated, by the way, by Hammurabi and not the biblical legists) is one of proportionality in the ascription of punishment.
Blog text (5) -
The legal principle of lex talionis demands that a punishment mirrors the crime committed.
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According to ancient laws, lex talionis was commonly defined as "an eye for an eye."
Synonyms
Punishment that gives the same harm back to the person who did the wrong
Hurting someone in the same way they hurt another person, for example an eye for an eye
To punish someone in the same way they hurt another person
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
lex + talionis
This is a classical Latin legal formula whose meaning ('law of retaliation' / 'an eye for an eye') is conventional and must be learned. Knowing 'lex' as 'law' does not help a B1 learner because 'talionis' is an untranslated Latin genitive (not a recognizable English word) and the idiomatic legal sense cannot be derived from the surface constituents.
Etymology
Lex talionis comes from Latin: lex means 'law' and talionis means 'retaliation', so it gives the image of a rule that answers a wrong with the same wrong. That's why it means 'an eye for an eye', meaning that punishment should match the offense.