retribution

1350–1400; Middle English retribucioun < Middle French < Late Latin retribūtiōn- (stem of retribūtiō) punishment, reward as result of judgment, equivalent to Latin retribūt( us) (past participle of retribuere to restore, give back; see re-, tribute) + -iōn- -ion

1, 2. See revenge.

English retribution ultimately derives from Late Latin retribūtiō (inflectional stem retribūtiōn- ) “recompense, repayment.” Retribūtiō first appears in the Vulgate (the Latin translation of the Christian Bible made chiefly by St. Jerome during the late 4th century), in St. Augustine of Hippo’s City of God (a.d. 413–426), and in the writings of other Latin church fathers.
Retribūtiō denotes repayment but connotes payback. Retribūtiō is a derivative of the Latin verb retribuere “to return (money) in due turn, hand down a reward or punishment,” a compound of the Latin prefix re- “back, again, back again” and the verb tribuere “to share, share out, apportion.”
From tribuere is derived the noun tribūtus “a levy, tax, allocation,” which the Romans interpreted as a derivation of tribūtum “a tax, levy, a war tax paid by Roman citizens according to their tribes” ( tribus ). Tribus, one of the three original, traditional ethnic divisions of the Roman state, is a derivative of trēs “three.”