avenge

English

Etymology

From Middle English avengen, borrowed from Old French avengier, from a- (“upon”) + vengier, from Latin vindicō, vindicāre.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /əˈvɛnd͡ʒ/
- Audio (UK) (file)
Rhymes: -ɛndʒ

Verb

avenge (third-person singular simple present avenges, present participle avenging, simple past and past participle avenged)

(transitive) 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
- 1673, John Milton, “[Sonnet] XV. On the late Massacher in Piemont.”, in Poems, &c. upon Several Occasions, London: […] Tho[mas] Dring […], OCLC 1050806759, page 58:
  Avenge O Lord thy ſlaughter'd Saints, whoſe bones / Lie ſcatter'd on the Alpine mountains cold,
- 1984, Dune‎ (Science Fiction), OCLC 1295459964, spoken by Paul Atreides, 2:01:42 from the start:
  Father, today I will avenge your death.
(reflexive) To revenge oneself (on or upon someone).
(intransitive, obsolete) To take vengeance.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Leviticus 19:18:
  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.
(transitive, archaic) To treat revengefully; to wreak vengeance on.
- 1609, Bishop Hall, Some few of David's Psalmes Metaphrased
  thy judgment in avenging thine enemies

Usage notes

The object of "avenge" is generally the act of injury or the injured party, never (in modern usage) the injuring party. The injuring party may be specified with "on," as in "to avenge X on his killer," but this is rather more common with "take/get revenge" and "revenge oneself" than with "avenge."

Synonyms

(take vengeance): bewreak, get back at, retaliate, take revenge
(treat revengefully): spite
See also Thesaurus:avenge

Translations

to take vengeance for

Arabic: اِنْتَقَمَ‎ (intaqama)
Armenian: վրեժ լուծել (vrež lucel)
Aromanian: arãzgan
Belarusian: мсціць impf (mscicʹ), по́мсціць impf (pómscicʹ), адпо́мсціць pf (adpómscicʹ)
Bulgarian: мъстя́ (bg) impf (mǎstjá), отмъща́вам (bg) impf (otmǎštávam), отмъстя́ pf (otmǎstjá)
Burmese: လက်စားချေ (my) (lakca:hkye), ကလဲ့စားချေ (my) (ka.lai.ca:hkye)
Catalan: venjar (ca)
Chechen: please add this translation if you can
Chinese:
Mandarin: 報仇／报仇 (zh) (bàochóu), 復仇／复仇 (zh) (fùchóu)
Cornish: diala
Czech: mstít se impf, pomstít se pf
Danish: hævne, hævne seg
Dutch: wreken (nl), wraak nemen
Finnish: kostaa (fi)
French: venger (fr), se venger (fr)
Friulian: svindicâ
Galician: vingar
Georgian: შურისძიება (šurisʒieba)
German: rächen (de), ahnden (de)
Gothic: 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (fraweitan), 𐌲𐌰𐍅𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (gawrikan)
Greek: εκδικούμαι (el) (ekdikoúmai)
Higaonon: balus
Hindi: बदला लेना (badlā lenā), दण्ड देना (daṇḍ denā)
Hungarian: megbosszul (hu)
Icelandic: hefna (is)
Irish: díoltas a imirt ar, éiric a bhaint amach i/de
Italian: vendicare (it)
Japanese: 復讐する (ふくしゅうする, fukushū suru), 報復する (ja) (ほうふくする, hōfuku suru), かたきを討つ (かたきをうつ, kataki o utsu), あだを討つ (あだをうつ, ada o utsu)
Korean: 복수하다 (ko) (boksuhada), 보복하다 (ko) (bobokhada)
Lao: ແກ້ແຄ້ນ (lo) (kǣ khǣn)
Latin: vindicō, ulcīscor, persequor (la), pūniō
Macedonian: одмаздува impf (odmazduva), одмазди pf (odmazdi)
Maori: rānaki, ngaki (mi), rangaranga, ngaki mate, whakakaitoa, huki, huki toto, hiku toto
Norwegian:
Bokmål: hevne, hevne seg
Occitan: venjar (oc)
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: мьстити impf (mĭstiti)
Ossetian: маст исын (mast isyn)
Persian: انتقام گرفتن‎ (fa) (enteqâm gereftan)
Polish: mścić się impf, zemścić się pf, pomścić się (pl) pf
Portuguese: vingar (pt)
Romanian: răzbuna (ro)
Russian: мсти́ть (ru) impf (mstítʹ), отомсти́ть (ru) pf (otomstítʹ)
Scottish Gaelic: dìol
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: освећи́вати се impf, осве́тити се pf
Roman: osvećívati se impf, osvétiti se (sh) pf
Sicilian: vinnicari (scn), minnicari (scn)
Slovak: mstiť sa impf, pomstiť sa pf
Slovene: maščevati se impf or pf
Spanish: vengar (es)
Swedish: hämnas (sv)
Tajik: интиқом гирифтан (intiqom giriftan), қасос гирифтан (qasos giriftan)
Thai: แก้แค้น (th) (gɛ̂ɛ-kɛ́ɛn)
Ukrainian: мсти́ти impf (mstýty), помсти́ти pf (pomstýty), відомща́ти impf (vidomščáty), відімсти́ти pf (vidimstýty), відомсти́ти pf (vidomstýty), мсти́тися impf (mstýtysja), помща́тися impf (pomščátysja), помсти́тися pf (pomstýtysja)
Venetian: vendegar, vendicar
Vietnamese: phục thù (vi), trả thù (vi)
Walloon: vindjî (wa), rivindjî (wa), raveur (wa), rawè (wa)
Welsh: dial am

revenge oneself — see revenge

to treat revengefully

Finnish: kostaa (fi) (+ allative)
French: please add this translation if you can
Latin: vindico, ulciscor, persequor (la), punio
Polish: mścić się impf, zemścić się pf, pomścić się (pl) pf
Portuguese: vingar (pt)
Romanian: răzbuna (ro)
Russian: мсти́ть (ru) impf (mstítʹ), отомсти́ть (ru) pf (otomstítʹ)
Scottish Gaelic: dìol

Noun

avenge (plural avenges)

(archaic) An act of vengeance; a revenge.

Anagrams

Geneva