revenge

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɹəˈvɛnd͡ʒ/, /ɹɪˈvɛnd͡ʒ/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English revengen, borrowed from Old French revengier, a variant of revenchier (“to take revenge”),^[2][3][4] from re-, here intensive, and vengier (“to take revenge”),^[3][2] from Latin vindicāre (“to lay claim to, avenge”);^[3][5] Hoad and NODE give Late Latin revindicāre as the source.^[6][7] The noun is from revenge, revenche, a back-formation from the verb.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a verb, to take vengeance: 1375, in John Barbour's The Bruce,^[2] the earliest use being Scots.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The transitive verb, to take vengeance on account of a wrong, is from the early 15th century.^[3] The noun, retaliation for a wrong, is from 1547, in a translation of Virgil's Aeneid, in Barnhart,^[2] about 1525 in MWU, the 1540s in Etymonline;^[4][3] the desire for revenge is from before 1586.^[8] An opportunity to win back a loss, as in a return game at cards or chess, is from 1672.^[8] Word Origins quotes Francis Bacon's revenge is a kind of wild justice and notes that the proverb revenge is a dish best eaten cold is first recorded in the late 19th century.^[5]

Timeline

• 1375 – to take vengeance.^[2]
• early 15th century – to avenge a wrong.^[3]
• 1547 – the noun.^[2]
• 1672 – a return game.^[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The act of harming someone in return for a wrong suffered; retaliation or vengeance.
2. The desire for revenge; vindictiveness.
3. A chance to make up for a defeat, as in a return match.

Verb

1. To harm someone in return for a wrong; to avenge.

Word family

• revenger
• revengeless
• revengingly
• nonrevenge
• revengeful
• unrevenged
• unrevenging
• Montezuma's revenge

Related words

• vengeance
• avenge
• vindicate
• revanche
• vindictive

Usage notes

Etymonline quotes the Columbia Guide to Standard American English (1993): avenge suggests just punishment for a wrong, while revenge stresses retaliation and implies real hatred.^[3]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press