# revenge

Pronunciation: say "ri-VENJ" US /ɹəˈvɛnd͡ʒ/, AUS /ɹəˈvendʒ/

## Noun

1. Personal, retaliatory action taken against a person, group, or institution for a real or perceived wrong.
   - Simple: Action taken to hurt someone back because they hurt you first.
   - _He spent years plotting revenge against the company that fired him._
   - _Their revenge took the form of a public lawsuit._
4. A victory over an opponent who previously defeated you.
   - Simple: A win against a person or team that beat you earlier.
   - _Saturday's match gave the club its long-awaited revenge over its biggest rival._
   - _After last season's defeat, this win tasted of revenge._

## Verb

2. To take retaliatory action for a particular harmful act, or on behalf of its victim; to avenge.
   - Simple: To pay someone back for a harmful act done to you or to a person you care about.
   - _The knight vowed to revenge the murder of his lord._
   - _They revenged their fallen comrades with a swift counterattack._
3. To carry out one's own retaliation on or upon a particular person.
   - Simple: To get back at someone by hurting them after they hurt you.
   - _He revenged himself on the men who had ruined his name._
   - _She vowed to revenge herself upon those who had wronged her._

## Verb

5. To take vengeance; to retaliate for a wrong suffered. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To take vengeance for a wrong.
   - _The kinsmen gathered, resolved to revenge before nightfall._
   - _He believed the gods would revenge upon the guilty in time._

## Origin

**Meanings 1, 4** — From Middle French revenge, formed from revenger, from Old French revengier (possibly influenced by Old Occitan revènge, "revenge, comeback"). It is related to the Old French forms vengier and venchier, both descended from Latin vindicō.
**Meanings 2–3, 5** — From Middle English revengen, borrowed from the Old French verb revengier (also revenger).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/revenge (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).