eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth

English

Etymology

Reference to Exodus 21:23-25: "And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe". (King James Version)

Pronunciation

Audio (AU) (file)

Proverb

eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth

(idiomatic) compensation for injury caused by a person, in the form of inflicting of an identical injury on that person.

Synonyms

tit for tat

Antonyms

turn the other cheek

Translations

compensation for an injury

Arabic: الْعَيْن بِالْعَيْن وَالسِّنّ بِالسِّنّ‎
Armenian: ակն ընդ ական, ատամն ընդ ատաման (akn ənd akan, atamn ənd ataman)
Asturian: güeyu por güeyu, diente por diente
Basque: begia begi truk
Belarusian: во́ка за во́ка, зуб за зуб (vóka za vóka, zub za zub)
Bulgarian: о́ко за о́ко, зъб за зъб (óko za óko, zǎb za zǎb)
Catalan: ull per ull, dent per dent
Chinese:
Mandarin: 眼還眼，以牙還牙／眼还眼，以牙还牙 (yǎn huán yǎn, yǐ yá huán yá), 針鋒相對／针锋相对 (zh) (zhēnfēngxiāngduì), 以眼還眼，以牙還牙／以眼还眼，以牙还牙 (zh) (yǐ yǎn huán yǎn, yǐ yá huán yá)
Czech: oko za oko, zub za zub
Danish: øje for øje, tand for tand
Dutch: oog om oog, tand om tand (nl)
Esperanto: okulon pro okulo, denton pro dento
Estonian: silm silma, hammas hamba vastu
Finnish: silmä silmästä, hammas hampaasta; silmä silmästä (short version)
French: œil pour œil, dent pour dent (fr)
Galician: ollo por ollo, dente por dente
Georgian: თვალი თვალის წილ, კბილი კბილის წილ (tvali tvalis c̣il, ḳbili ḳbilis c̣il)
German: Auge um Auge, Zahn um Zahn (de)
Greek: οφθαλμόν αντί οφθαλμού και οδόντα αντί οδόντος (ofthalmón antí ofthalmoú kai odónta antí odóntos)
Greenlandic: isi isimik, kigut kigummik
Hebrew: עין תחת עין, שן תחת שן‎ (áyin tákhat áyin, shén tákhat shén)
Hungarian: szemet szemért, fogat fogért (hu)
Icelandic: auga fyrir auga, tönn fyrir tönn
Ido: okulo po okulo e dento po dento
Interlingua: un oculo pro un oculo
Irish: súil ar shúil, fiacail ar fhiacail
Italian: occhio per occhio, dente per dente
Japanese: 目には目を、歯には歯を (ja) (めにはめを、はにははを, me ni wa me o, ha ni wa ha o), 目には目を (ja) (めにはめを, me ni wa me o), 同害報復 (どうがいほうふく, dōgai hōfuku)
Kashubian: òkò za òkò, ząb za ząb
Kazakh: көзге көз, тіске тіс (közge köz, tıske tıs)
Korean: 눈에는 눈 이에는 이 (nuneneun nun ieneun i)
Latin: oculum pro oculo dentem pro dente
Latvian: acs pret aci, zobs pret zobu
Lithuanian: akis už akį, dantis už dantį
Macedonian: око за око, заб за заб (oko za oko, zab za zab)
Maltese: għajn għal għajn, sinna għal sinna
Norwegian:
Bokmål: øye for øye, tann for tann
Nynorsk: auge for auge, tann for tann
Occitan: uèlh per uèlh, dent per dent
Old English: ēaġe for ēaġe, tōþ for tōþ
Polish: oko za oko, ząb za ząb (pl)
Portuguese: olho por olho, dente por dente (pt)
Romanian: ochi pentru ochi, dinte pentru dinte
Romansch: egl per egl, dent per dent
Russian: о́ко за о́ко, зуб за зуб (ru) (óko za óko, zub za zub)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: о̏ко за о̏ко, зу̑б за зу̑б
Roman: ȍko za ȍko, zȗb za zȗb
Slovak: oko za oko, zub za zub
Slovene: oko za oko, zob za zob
Sorbian:
Lower: woko za woko, zub za zub
Upper: woko za woko, zub za zub
Spanish: ojo por ojo, diente por diente
Swedish: öga för öga, tand för tand (sv)
Telugu: కంటికి కన్ను, పంటికి పన్ను (te) (kaṇṭiki kannu, paṇṭiki pannu)
Thai: ตาต่อตา ฟันต่อฟัน (th) (dtaa-dtɔ̀ɔ-dtaa fan-dtɔ̀ɔ-fan)
Turkish: göze göz, dişe diş
Ukrainian: о́ко за о́ко, зуб за зуб (óko za óko, zub za zub)
Vietnamese: ân đền oán trả, ăn miếng trả miếng
Welsh: llygad am lygad a dant am ddant