vendetta

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a prolonged and often violent feud in which a family, clan, or group seeks revenge for previous injuries or killings

   The two families ended a vendetta that had lasted for three generations.

2. 2
   noun

   a sustained personal campaign motivated by resentment or a desire for revenge

   The prosecutor denied that the investigation was a personal vendetta.

Simplified etymology

Vendetta was borrowed in the mid-19th century from Italian. It ultimately goes back to Latin vindicare, “to claim” or “avenge,” which is also related to revenge.

Borrowed from Italian vendetta, 'revenge' or 'blood feud,' from Latin vindicta, 'vengeance, punishment, or legal claim,' related to vindicare, 'to claim, avenge, or punish.' English first emphasized interfamily blood feuds and later broadened to personal campaigns of hostility.

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