rēsponsĭo, ōnis, f. [respondeo].
1 An answer , reply; a refutation (rare but class.; syn. responsum): in quo erat accusatoris interpretatio indigna responsione, Cic. Balb. 16, 36; Gell. 12, 12, 1: responsio mollis frangit iram, Vulg. Prov. 15, 1.— In plur., Plaut. Most. 3, 1, 63.—
2 In rhet.: sibi ipsi responsio, a replying to one’s own argument , Cic. de Or. 3, 54, 207; Quint. 9, 1, 35; 9, 3, 90 (cf.: ut quasi ad interrogata sibi ipse respondeat, Cic. Or. 40, 137).