revanche

Forms

revanche f (plural revanches)^[1] Old French revenche, Middle French revange (1358) and revenge.^[2][3] Littré cites Burgundian revainche and Berry revenche.^[4]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from French revancher.^[2][1][5] The verb, recorded from about 1165, is formed from re- and vengier or its variant venchier, old forms of venger;^[2][3] The modern verb comes from Latin vindicō (“to claim, avenge”).^[6] Meyer-Lübke instead puts the verb and the noun under Latin revindicō (“to avenge”).^[7] The change of form cut the verb off from its base, though the meaning kept them close.^[3]

The older form survives in the English word revenge.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1270, as revenche, in the Roman des Marques de Rome, meaning “vengeance”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Revanche became distinct from its near-synonym vengeance by narrowing its sense.^[3] About 1525 Guillaume Crétin uses it for paying back a wrong received and regaining the upper hand.^[2] Robert Estienne records it in 1539 for the return game that the loser plays to win back his losses,^[2][8] and the word has thrived in games and sport ever since.^[3] The sense of returning a kindness, found in Montaigne in 1588, has disappeared,^[2][3] leaving à charge de revanche “on condition of returning the favour” (1797).^[2][3]

The adverbial phrase en revanche “in return, on the other hand”, recorded in Agrippa d'Aubigné in 1619, comes from the idea of compensation;^[2][3] it competes with par contre, which purists condemned.^[3] The theme of revenge for a lost war gave revanchard (1894), said of the French nationalists who campaigned for a revanche on Germany, then revanchisme (1900).^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1270 – Revenche “vengeance” appears in the Marques de Rome.^[2]
• 1358 – The form revange is recorded.^[3]
• c. 1525 – Crétin uses it for paying back a wrong.^[2]
• 1539 – Robert Estienne records the sense “return game”.^[2][8]
• 1588 – Montaigne uses it for returning a kindness.^[2]
• 1619 – En revanche appears in d'Aubigné.^[2][3]
• 1797 – First record of à charge de revanche.^[2][8]
• 1894 – Revanchard is recorded.^[3][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Revenge; the act of regaining the upper hand over someone after a defeat: prendre sa revanche.^[9][8][1]
2. (games, sports) A return game or rematch that gives the loser another chance: la première manche, la revanche et la belle.^[9][10]
3. (figurative) A return in force, or a compensation.^[8]
4. À charge de revanche: on condition of returning the favour.^[9][8]
5. En revanche: in return, on the other hand.^[9][10]

Word family

• revanchard
• revanchisme
• revanchiste

Related words

• venger
• revancher
• vengeance
• Latin vindicō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 469a
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)