reprisal

Reprisal comes from Anglo-Norman reprisaille (echoed in French représaille), which came from Old Italian ripresaglia (Italian rappresaglia). That word traces to ripreso, the past participle of riprendere, "to take back," ultimately from Latin reprendere, earlier reprehendere.

At its root, the word simply meant taking something back — a plain act of retrieval before it hardened into the idea of retaliation.

It shares its Latin root, reprehendere, with reprehend — so a reprisal and a reprimand both descend from the same act of seizing or catching hold.