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Origin and history of revenge

revenge(v.)

late 14c., revengen, "avenge oneself," from Old French revengier, revenger, variants of revenchier "take revenge, avenge" (13c., Modern French revancher), from re-, here perhaps an intensive prefix (see re-), + vengier "take revenge," from Latin vindicare "to lay claim to, avenge, punish" (see vindication). Transitive sense of "take vengeance on account of" is from early 15c. Related: Revenged; revenging; revengement.

To avenge is "to get revenge" or "to take vengeance"; it suggests the administration of just punishment for a criminal or immoral act. Revenge seems to stress the idea of retaliation a bit more strongly and implies real hatred as its motivation. ["The Columbia Guide to Standard American English," 1993]

revenge(n.)

"retaliation for wrongs real or fancied, act of doing harm or injury in return for wrong or injury suffered," 1540s, from French revenge, a back-formation from revengier (see revenge (v.)). Hence "vindictive feeling, desire to be revenged."

also from 1540s

Entries linking to revenge

vindication(n.)

mid-15c., vendicacion, "act of avenging, revenge; assertion of a claim" (senses now obsolete); 1640s as "justification by proof, defense against censure;" from Old French vindicacion "vengeance, revenge" and directly from Latin vindicationem (nominative vindicatio) "act of claiming or avenging," noun of action from past-participle stem of vindicare "lay claim to, assert; claim for freedom, set free; protect, defend; avenge" (related to vindicta "revenge"). This is held to be probably from vim dicare "to show authority," from vim, accusative of vis "force" (see vim) + dicare "to proclaim" (see diction).

avenge(v.)

"vindicate by inflicting pain or evil on the wrongdoer," late 14c., from Anglo-French avenger, Old French avengier, from a- "to" (see ad-) + vengier "take revenge" (Modern French venger), from Latin vindicare "to claim, avenge, punish" (see vindication). See revenge (v.) for distinction of use. Related: Avenged; avenging. As a noun to go with it, 16c. English tried avenge, avengeance, avengement, avenging.

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revanchist
1926, "a German seeking to avenge Germany's defeat in World War I and recover lost territory," on model of French revanchiste, which had been used in reference to those in France who sought to reverse the results of the defeat of France by Prussia in 1871 (which was accomplished
retaliate
"requite, repay, or return in kind," 1610s, from Latin retaliatus, past participle of retaliare "pay back in kind," from re- "back" (see re-) + Latin talio "exaction of payment in kind," from or influenced by talis "suchlike" (see that). Originally of kindness, civility, etc., bu
retaliation
"return of like for like, action of retaliating," 1580s, noun of action from Late Latin retaliare "pay back in kind," from re- "back" (see re-) + Latin talio "exaction of payment in kind," believed to be a derivative (on the notion of "compensation with the same") of talis "suchl
vengeance
c. 1300, from Anglo-French vengeaunce, Old French vengeance, venjance "revenge, retribution" (12c.), from vengier "take revenge...
Montezuma
Montezuma's revenge, "severe intestinal infection" sometimes suffered by non-natives in Mexico, is by 1962, in reference...
municipal
As cognates in related senses, de Vaan lists Sanskrit meni- "revenge," Avestan maeini- "punishment, castigation," Old Persian...yau-maini- "power of revenge," Middle Welsh tramwy, tremynu "to cross, pass," Old Irish moin "value, treasure," Welsh mwyn...
alastor
"In early Greek mythology, the spirit of revenge, that prompts the members of a family to commit fresh crimes to obtain satisfaction...
reprisal
early 15c., reprisail, "the seizing of property or citizens of another nation in equivalent retaliation for loss inflicted on one's own," from Anglo-French reprisaille (mid-14c.), Old French reprisaille (Modern French représaille), from early Italian ripresaglia, from ripreso, pa
punish
c. 1300, punishen, "inflict a penalty on," from Old French puniss-, extended present-participle stem of punir "to punish," from Latin punire "punish, correct, chastise; take vengeance for; inflict a penalty on, cause pain for some offense," earlier poenire, from poena "penalty, p
Geneva
city in Switzerland, from Latin Genava, perhaps from a PIE root meaning "estuary" or one meaning "bend;" in either case a reference to its situation. From 1920 sometimes in reference to the city as the site of the headquarters of the League of Nations. The original Geneva Convent

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