venjar

Forms

venjar (first-person singular present venjo, first-person singular preterite vengí, past participle venjat); root stress: (Northern) /e̞/, (Balearic, Central, Northwestern, Valencia) /e/^[1] The pronunciation is [bəɲˈʒa] in Central and Northern Catalan, [vəɲˈʒa] in Balearic, [beɲˈʒa] in North-Western and [veɲˈd͡ʒaɾ] in Valencian.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Catalan venjar, which is inherited from Latin vindicō (“to claim; to set free; to avenge”).^{[3][2][4][5][1]} The learned doublet vindicar was borrowed from the same Latin verb and is recorded from 1803.^[4][1]

The same Latin verb is Occitan venjar, Old French vengier, Spanish vengar, Portuguese vingar and Italian vendicare.^[1][6] The troubadours wrote Old Occitan venjar as Old Catalan did.^[7][8] Berceo has an older vendegar beside vengar.^[9]

Wiktionary derives the Latin verb from vindex (“defender, protector”); the OLD notes that it was originally of the third conjugation and analyses it as vim (“force”) and dīcō (“to say”).^[1][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record in CICA is in the Furs de València (1261–1271).^[11] Coromines quotes Jaume I's chronicle, where the bishop of Barcelona says that whoever avenges the nobles killed on Mallorca, serving God, will do a good deed (que·l venjament seria bo).^[3] The sense is the modern one, to avenge a wrong or a person.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Llull's Meravelles has the reflexive venjar-se de: the leopard plans how to take revenge on the lion.^[3] A late 13th-century version of the Usatges bars enemies from being accusers or witnesses, lest they wish to avenge themselves.^[3] Llull also uses the transitive verb for avenging one's lord, and Desclot's king sends his army into Navarre to avenge the shame done to him.^[12][3] In Muntaner a son vows to avenge his father the king: nos lo n volem venjar.^[13]

The 19th-century dictionaries add the sense of punishing, as God avenges offences against his law.^[14] Of the family, venjança is recorded in the 13th century (Desclot), venjament in Llull, venjador in 1490 (Tirant) and revenja in 1803.^[4]

Timeline

• 1261–1271 – the Furs de València, the first record in CICA.^[11]
• 13th century – Jaume I's chronicle: qui·ls poria venjar.^[3]
• late 13th century – Llull's Meravelles and Llibre de contemplació.^[3][12]
• late 13th century – Desclot: que·s venjàs de la onta.^[3]
• 1325 – Muntaner: nos lo n volem venjar.^[13]
• 1803 – the learned doublet vindicar and the derivative revenjar-se.^[4]
• 1839 – Labèrnia defines it as taking satisfaction for an offence received.^[14]

Meanings

Verb

1. To take revenge for an offence or a harm; to avenge: Van jurar venjar la mort del seu germà.^[15][5]
2. To avenge a person, punishing the harm done to them;^[15][5] (by extension) venjar el seu honor, to avenge one's honour.^[15][5]
3. (pronominal) venjar-se: to take revenge, usually with de for the person or the offence.^[15][5][1]
4. (dated) To punish an offence.^[14][2]

Word family

• revenjar-se
• revenja
• venjable
• venjador
• venjament
• venjança
• venjatiu

Related words

• vindicar
• vindicta
• reivindicar
• Latin vindicō
• Spanish vengar

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. venjar
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 9, 119
4. ^ a b c d Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 954
5. ^ a b c d e Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. venjar
6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. vindicare
7. ^ Stempel, Wolf-Dieter et al., Dictionnaire de l'occitan médiéval (DOM), Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, https://dom-en-ligne.de, p. s.v. venjar
8. ^ Raynouard, François-Just-Marie (1838–1844), Lexique roman, ou dictionnaire de la langue des troubadours, 6 vols., Paris: Silvestre, p. 6, 543
9. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 770
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. venjar
12. ^ a b Nou glossari general lul·lià (NGGL), Centre de Documentació Ramon Llull, Universitat de Barcelona, https://nggl.ub.edu, p. s.v. venjar
13. ^ a b Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. venjar
14. ^ a b c Labèrnia, Pere (1839–1840), Diccionari de la llengua catalana ab la correspondencia castellana y llatina, 2 vols., Barcelona, p. s.v. venjar
15. ^ a b c d Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2007), Diccionari de la llengua catalana, 2nd ed. (DIEC2), Barcelona: Edicions 62; online edition with later updates, https://dlc.iec.cat, p. s.v. venjar