lex talionis

noun

"lex-talionis" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“lex talionis” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
12
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - law of equivalent retaliation.

Corpus desk

Index EN-lex-talionis · lex talionis · English

lex talionis · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "L" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for lex talionis
PropertyValue
Headwordlex talionis
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “lex talionis” in English

lex talionissits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

lex talionis is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "law of equivalent retaliation.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for lex talionis, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin lex (“proposition or motion for a law, a bill”) + talionis, genitive singular of tālio (“retaliation”), from tālis (“of such kind”). The correct English form is lex talionis, spelled L-E-X- -T-A-L-I-O-N-I-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    law of equivalent retaliation.

Etymology

From Latin lex (“proposition or motion for a law, a bill”) + talionis, genitive singular of tālio (“retaliation”), from tālis (“of such kind”).

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "lex talionis"?
"lex talionis" is spelled L-E-X- -T-A-L-I-O-N-I-S.
What does "lex talionis" mean?
As a noun, "lex talionis" means: law of equivalent retaliation.
What is the origin of the word "lex talionis"?
From Latin lex (“proposition or motion for a law, a bill”) + talionis, genitive singular of tālio (“retaliation”), from tālis (“of such kind”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list