revenge

Meanings

1. 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. 2
   verb

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

   She was determined to revenge the death of her brother.

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.

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