avenge

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈvɛnd͡ʒ/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛndʒ

Verb

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

   • 1673, John Milton, “[Sonnet] XV. On the late Massacher in Piemont.”, in Poems, &c. upon Several Occasions, London: Tho Dring , →OCLC, page 58:

     Avenge O Lord thy ſlaughter'd Saints, whoſe bones / Lie ſcatter'd on the Alpine mountains cold,

   • 1984, 2:01:42 from the start, in Dune‎ (Science Fiction), spoken by Paul Atreides, →OCLC:

     Father, today I will avenge your death.

2. (reflexive) To revenge oneself (on or upon someone).
3. (intransitive, obsolete) To take vengeance.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, Leviticus 19:18:

     Thou shalt not auenge nor beare any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt loue thy neighbor as thy selfe: I am the Lord.

4. (transitive, archaic) To treat revengefully; to wreak vengeance on.
   • 1609, Bishop Hall, Some few of David's Psalmes Metaphrased:

     thy judgment in avenging thine enemies

Usage notes

The object of "avenge" is generally the act of injury or the injured party, never (in modern usage) the injuring party. The injuring party may be specified with "on," as in "to avenge X on his killer," but this is rather more common with "take/get revenge" and "revenge oneself" than with "avenge."

Synonyms

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

Translations

Noun

avenge (plural avenges)

1. (archaic) An act of vengeance; a revenge.

Anagrams

• Geneva