Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Retribution \Ret`ri*bu"tion\, n. [L. retributio: cf. F.
   r['e]tribution.]
   1. The act of retributing; repayment.

            In good offices and due retributions, we may not be
            pinching and niggardly.               --Bp. Hall.

   2. That which is given in repayment or compensation; return
      suitable to the merits or deserts of, as an action;
      commonly, condign punishment for evil or wrong.

            All who have their reward on earth, . . . Naught
            seeking but the praise of men, here find Fit
            retribution, empty as their deeds.    --Milton.

   3. Specifically, reward and punishment, as distributed at the
      general judgment.

            It is a strong argument for a state of retribution
            hereafter, that in this world virtuous persons are
            very often unfortunate, and vicious persons
            prosperous.                           --Addison.

   Syn: Repayment; requital; recompense; payment; retaliation.

Source : WordNet®

retribution
     n 1: a justly deserved penalty [syn: {requital}]
     2: the act of correcting for your wrongdoing
     3: the act of taking revenge (harming someone in retaliation
        for something harmful that they have done) especially in
        the next life; "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the
        Lord"--Romans 12:19; "For vengeance I would do nothing.
        This nation is too great to look for mere revenge"--James
        Garfield; "he swore vengeance on the man who betrayed
        him"; "the swiftness of divine retribution" [syn: {vengeance},
         {payback}]