Definition of "retributionary"

Punishment, moreover, loses all its retributionary character [...]

1877, Joseph Sylvester Clark, Henry Martyn Dexter, Alonzo Hall Quint, Isaac Pendleton Langworthy, Christopher Cushing, Samuel Burnham, The Congregational Quarterly, page 567

It might be thought, for example, that a rehabilitation approach simply costs more in both time and money than a retributionary approach. But while retributionary approaches may be a boon to the average taxpayer, they are a bane to ...

1984, Charles F. Abel, Knute Martin, Frank H. Marsh, Punishment and Restitution: A Restitutionary Approach to Crime and the Criminal, Greenwood Publishing Group, page 4

Of course, the 'just deserts' retributionary approach does not mean the punishment should be exactly like the crime; it means that there should be equivalencies of seriousness of punishment.

2004, Ian Marsh, John Cochrane, Gaynor Melville, Criminal Justice: An Introduction to Philosophies, Theories and Practice, Routledge, page 17