avenge
nounEtymology Inherited from Middle English avengen, borrowed from Old French avengier, from a- + vengier.
1
Archaic An act of vengeance; a revenge.
avenge
verb/əˈvɛnd͡ʒ/
Etymology Inherited from Middle English avengen, borrowed from Old French avengier, from a- + vengier.
1
To take vengeance (for); to exact satisfaction for by punishing the injuring party; to vindicate by inflicting pain or evil on a wrongdoer.
- to avenge the murder of his brother
- Avenge O Lord thy ſlaughter'd Saints, whoſe bones / Lie ſcatter'd on the Alpine mountains cold,1673, John Milton, “[Sonnet] XV. On the late Massacher in Piemont.”, in Poems, &c. upon Several Occasions, London: […] Tho[mas] Dring […], →OCLC, page 58:
1 more example
- Father, today I will avenge your death.1984, 2:01:42 from the start, in Dune (Science Fiction), spoken by Paul Atreides, →OCLC:
2
To revenge oneself (on or upon someone).
3
Obsolete To take vengeance.
- Thou shalt not auenge nor beare any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt loue thy neighbor as thy selfe: I am the Lord.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Leviticus 19:18:
4
Archaic To treat revengefully; to wreak vengeance on.
- thy judgment in avenging thine enemies1609, Bishop Hall, Some few of David's Psalmes Metaphrased:
- Synonyms
- bewreak, get back at, retaliate, take revenge, spite, avenge, even the score, get one's own back, settle the score, tar out
- Derived terms
- avengeable, avengeance, avengeful, avengement, avenger, avengingly, unavenged, unavenging
- Related terms
- revenge