revenge

B2 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ɹəˈvɛnd͡ʒ/ See IPA manual

Freq #1881

Meanings

1

noun
Action you take to hurt someone because they have hurt you.

He swore to take revenge on the men who betrayed him.
2

verb
To punish someone in return for a harm they have done.

She was determined to revenge the death of her brother.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · action you take to hurt... paybackretaliation

2 verb · to punish someone in return... avenge retaliate

More reprisal requital retributionrevanchevengeance wrack wreak

Word family

Forms revengedrevengesrevengingunrevenged

Derived forms nonrevengeprevengerevengeablerevengeancerevengefulrevengelessrevengementrevengerrevenginglyrevengismunrevengedunrevenging

Related forms avenge forgiveness retaliaterevanchevendettavengevengeance

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

sweet revenge
retaliation or a return victory that feels especially satisfying

Adjective + noun

Proverbs (5)

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Simplified etymology

Revenge comes from Old French revencher, formed with an emphatic re- and ultimately derived from Latin vindicare, “to claim” or “to avenge.” The same Latin source lies behind avenge and vindicate.

Etymology

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 (whence deverbal French revanche), 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. Doublet of revanche. Compare avenge and vengeance.

revenge Middle French revengier Old French revènge pro vindicō Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# revenge

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ɹəˈvɛnd͡ʒ/
**Frequency rank:** 1881

## Meanings
1. Action you take to hurt someone because they have hurt you.
2. To punish someone in return for a harm they have done.

## Examples
- He swore to take revenge on the men who betrayed him.
- She was determined to revenge the death of her brother.

## Synonyms
- avenge
- payback
- reprisal
- requital
- retaliation
- retribution
- revanche
- vengeance
- wrack
- wreak

## Derived Forms
- nonrevenge
- prevenge
- revengeable
- revengeance
- revengeful
- revengeless
- revengement
- revenger
- revengingly
- revengism
- unrevenged
- unrevenging

## Related Forms
- avenge
- forgiveness
- retaliate
- revanche
- vendetta
- venge
- vengeance

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: revenge
- Root: revengier
- Root: revènge
- Root: vindicō

## Etymology
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 (whence deverbal French revanche), 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. Doublet of revanche. Compare avenge and vengeance.

## AI Etymology
Revenge comes 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 (whence deverbal French revanche), 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. Doublet of revanche. Compare avenge and vengeance. Modern senses include action you take to hurt someone because they have hurt you. and to punish someone in return for a harm they have done.. The wider word family includes derivatives such as nonrevenge, prevenge, revengeable, revengeance, revengeful, and revengeless and related forms such as avenge, forgiveness, retaliate, and revanche.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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