revenge

English

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɹəˈvɛnd͡ʒ/, /ɹɪˈvɛnd͡ʒ/, /ɹiˈvɛnd͡ʒ/
    • Audio (US):(file)
  • (General Australian) IPA(key): /ɹəˈvendʒ/
  • Hyphenation: re‧venge

Etymology 1

From Middle French revenge, a derivation from revenger, from Old French revengier (possibly influenced by Old Occitan revènge (“revenge, comeback”), from Old Occitan revenir (“to come back”)), a variant of Middle French revancher, from Old French revenchier. The variants Old French vengier (whence French venger) and Old French venchier are both descended from Latin vindicō, with stress-conditioned different parallel development in the inflectional forms. Compare avenge and vengeance.

Noun

revenge (usually uncountable, plural revenges)

  1. Any form of personal, retaliatory action against an individual, institution, or group for some alleged or perceived harm or injustice.
    Synonyms: payback, wreak; see also Thesaurus:revenge
    Indifference is the sweetest revenge.
    When I left my wife, she tried to set fire to the house in revenge.
    After tearing his fave T-shirt unintentionally, my brother wreaked revenge on me by ripping my most prized blazer apart.
  2. A win by a previous loser.
    • 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter I, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
      “I'm through with all pawn-games,” I laughed. “Come, let us have a game of lansquenet. Either I will take a farewell fall out of you or you will have your sevenfold revenge”.
    • 1999 January 27, Bride of Chaotica! (Star Trek: Voyager) (Science Fiction), Paramount Domestic Television, →OCLC:
      CHAOTICA: Arachnia, death as you know it has no hold on me. My defeat is but a temporary setback. I shall return to seek my revenge.
      JANEWAY: He doesn't give up, does he?
      PARIS: They never do.
      CHAOTICA: Our love was not meant to be, my Queen. But be warned. You have not seen the last of (gurgle) Chaotica.
Derived terms
Descendants
  • → Japanese: リベンジ
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English revengen, from Old French revengier, revenger.

Verb

revenge (third-person singular simple present revenges, present participle revenging, simple past and past participle revenged)

  1. (transitive) To take revenge for (a particular harmful action) or on behalf of (its victim); to avenge.
    Arsenal revenged their loss to Manchester United last time with a 5–0 drubbing this time.
    • 1697, Virgil, “The First Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
      The gods are just, and will revenge our cause.
    • 1814, Lord Berners, The Ancient Chronicles of Sir John Froissart:
      to revenge the death of our fathers
    • c. 1840, Leigh Hunt, The Seer; Or, Common-places Refreshed:
      However, my veneration for that illustrious man was so great, that on the night when he died, I revenged him finely on his two principal enemies.
  2. (transitive, reflexive) To take one's revenge (on or upon someone).
  3. (intransitive, archaic) To take vengeance; to revenge itself.
Derived terms
Translations

See also

Anagrams

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