revenge

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.

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈvɛndʒ/
• Hyphenation: re‧venge

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revenge (usually uncountable, plural revenges)

1. Any form of personal retaliatory action against an individual, institution, or group for some perceived harm or injustice.

   Indifference is the sweetest revenge.

   When I left my wife, she tried to set fire to the house in revenge.

2. (competition) A win by the previous loser.
   • 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter I, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 731476803:

     “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”.

• payback, wreak
• See also Thesaurus:revenge

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

1. (reflexive) To take one's revenge (on or upon) someone.
   • Shakespeare

     Come, Antony, and young Octavius, come, / Revenge yourselves alone on Cassius.

2. (transitive) To take revenge for (a particular harmful action) or on behalf of (its victim); to avenge.
   • Ld. Berners

     to revenge the death of our fathers

   • Dryden

     The gods are just, and will revenge our cause.

   Arsenal revenged its loss to Manchester United last time with a 5-0 drubbing this time.

3. (intransitive, archaic) To take vengeance; to revenge itself.
   • Shakespeare

     A bird that will revenge upon you all.

• vendetta
• avenge
• venge
• vengeance
• get one's own back
• get back at somebody
• retaliate

• genever