avenge
/əˈvɛnd͡ʒ/ verb, noun
Forms avenges avenging avenged
- verb (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”
- verb (reflexive) To revenge oneself (on or upon someone).
- verb (intransitive, obsolete) To take vengeance.
- verb (transitive, archaic) To treat revengefully; to wreak vengeance on.
- noun (archaic) An act of vengeance; a revenge.
Synonyms
bewreak get back at retaliate take revenge spite even the score get one's own back settle the score tar out revenge
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English avengen, borrowed from Old French avengier, from a- + vengier.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To take vengeance for; to exact satisfaction for by punishing the injuring party; to vindicate by inflicting pain or evil on a wrongdoer.
- verb To treat revengefully; to wreak vengeance on. [Obs.]
- verb To take vengeance. Levit. xix. 18.
- noun Vengeance; revenge. [Obs.] Spenser.
Etymology [OF. avengier; L. ad + vindicare to lay claim to, to avenge, revenge. See Vengeance.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “avenge”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details