avenge

From Middle English avengen, borrowed from Old French avengier, from a- (“upon”) + vengier, from Latin vindicō, vindicāre.

avenge (plural avenges)

1. A vengeance; a revenge.

avenge (third-person singular simple present avenges, present participle avenging, simple past and past participle avenged)

1. (transitive) To take vengeance (for); to exact satisfaction for by punishing the injuring party; to vindicate by inflicting pain or evil on a wrongdoer.

   to avenge the murder of his brother

   • (Can we date this quote?) John Milton

     Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones / Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold.

2. (intransitive, obsolete) To take vengeance.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Leviticus 19:18:

     Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

3. (archaic) To treat revengefully; to wreak vengeance on.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Bishop Hall

     thy judgment in avenging thine enemies

• (take vengeance): bewreak, get back at, retaliate, take revenge
• (treat revengefully): spite
• See also Thesaurus:avenge

• Geneva