Wiktionary

revenge

English

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Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

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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

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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
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Descendants
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  • → Japanese: リベンジ
Translations
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Etymology 2

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

Verb

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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
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Translations
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See also

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Anagrams

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