from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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)
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.