avenge

A1V4E1N1G2E1
/əˈvɛnd͡ʒ/

verb

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”

Similar
bewreakget back atretaliatetake revengespiteeven the scoreget one's own backsettle the score
OriginMiddle English avengen ← Old French avengier ← Latin vindicāre →
Less commonScrabble 10
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Meanings

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

present singular third person avenges · participle present avenging · participle past avenged · past avenged

  1. transitiveTo 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

    3 more examples

    They avenged the wrong done to them.

    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

    Father, today I will avenge your death.

    1984, 2:01:42 from the start, in Dune (Science Fiction), spoken by Paul Atreides, →OCLC
  2. reflexiveTo revenge oneself (on or upon someone).
  3. intransitiveobsoleteTo 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

    Synonyms: bewreak, get back at, retaliate, take revenge

  4. archaictransitiveTo treat revengefully; to wreak vengeance on.

    thy judgment in avenging thine enemies

    1609, Bishop Hall, Some few of David's Psalmes Metaphrased

    Synonyms: spite

nounavenge (plural avenges)

plural avenges

  1. archaicAn act of vengeance; a revenge.

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo take vengeance.

Similar
bewreakget back atretaliatetake revenge

verbTo treat revengefully; to wreak vengeance on.

Similar
spite
Similar
even the scoreget one's own backsettle the scoretar out

More synonyms by meaning

verbtake revenge for a perceived wrong

Similar
revengeretaliate
Broader
punishpenalizepenalise
Also see
get back atget one's own backrequiteretaliaterevenge

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂éd
  2. Proto-Italic*ad
  3. Proto-Italic*ad-
  4. Latinad-
  5. Old Frencha-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*wéyHs
  7. Proto-Italic*wīs
  8. Latinvim
  9. Proto-Indo-European*deyḱ-
  10. Proto-Indo-European*déyḱs
  11. Latindīcere
  12. Latinvindex
  13. Latinvindicāre
  14. Old Frenchvengier
  15. Old Frenchavengier
  16. Middle Englishavengen
  17. Englishavenge

Inherited from Middle English avengen, borrowed from Old French avengier, from a- + vengier.

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic اِنْتَقَمَ
  • اِنْتَقَمَ (intaqama)to take vengeance for
Bulgarian мъстя́, отмъща́вам
  • мъстя́ (măstjá)to take vengeance for
  • отмъща́вам (otmăštávam)to take vengeance for
  • отмъстя́ (otmăstjá)to take vengeance for
Catalan venjar
  • venjarto take vengeance for
Chinese Mandarin 報仇 /报仇, 復仇 /复仇
  • 報仇 /报仇 (bàochóu)to take vengeance for
  • 復仇 /复仇 (fùchóu)to take vengeance for
Czech mstít se, pomstít se
  • mstít seto take vengeance for
  • pomstít seto take vengeance for
Danish hævne, hævne seg
  • hævneto take vengeance for
  • hævne segto take vengeance for
Dutch wreken, wraak nemen
  • wrekento take vengeance for
  • wraak nemento take vengeance for
Estonian kätte maksma
  • kätte maksmato take vengeance for
Finnish kostaa, kostaa
  • kostaato take vengeance for
  • kostaato treat revengefully
French venger, se venger
  • vengerto take vengeance for
  • se vengerto take vengeance for
German rächen, ahnden
  • rächento take vengeance for
  • ahndento take vengeance for
Greek εκδικούμαι
  • εκδικούμαι (ekdikoúmai)to take vengeance for
Hindi बदला लेना, दण्ड देना
  • बदला लेना (badlā lenā)to take vengeance for
  • दण्ड देना (daṇḍ denā)to take vengeance for
Hungarian megbosszul
  • megbosszulto take vengeance for
Icelandic hefna
  • hefnato take vengeance for
Irish díoltas a imirt ar, éiric a bhaint amach i/de
  • díoltas a imirt arto take vengeance for
  • éiric a bhaint amach i/deto take vengeance for
Italian vendicare
  • vendicareto take vengeance for
Japanese 復讐する, 報復する
  • 復讐する (fukushū suru)to take vengeance for
  • 報復する (hōfuku suru)to take vengeance for
  • かたきを討つ (kataki o utsu)to take vengeance for
  • あだを討つ (ada o utsu)to take vengeance for
Korean 복수하다, 보복하다
  • 복수하다 (boksuhada)to take vengeance for
  • 보복하다 (bobokhada)to take vengeance for
Latin vindicō, ulcīscor
  • vindicōto take vengeance for
  • ulcīscorto take vengeance for
  • persequorto take vengeance for
  • pūniōto take vengeance for
  • vindicoto treat revengefully
  • ulciscorto treat revengefully
  • persequorto treat revengefully
  • punioto treat revengefully
Māori rānaki, ngaki
  • rānakito take vengeance for
  • ngakito take vengeance for
  • rangarangato take vengeance for
  • ngaki mateto take vengeance for
  • whakakaitoato take vengeance for
  • hukito take vengeance for
  • huki tototo take vengeance for
  • hiku tototo take vengeance for
Norwegian Bokmål hevne, hevne seg
  • hevneto take vengeance for
  • hevne segto take vengeance for
Persian انتقام گرفتن
  • انتقام گرفتن (enteqâm gereftan)to take vengeance for
Polish mścić się, zemścić się
  • mścić sięto take vengeance for
  • zemścić sięto take vengeance for
  • pomścić sięto take vengeance for
  • mścić sięto treat revengefully
  • zemścić sięto treat revengefully
  • pomścić sięto treat revengefully
Portuguese vingar, vingar
  • vingarto take vengeance for
  • vingarto treat revengefully
Romanian răzbuna, răzbuna
  • răzbunato take vengeance for
  • răzbunato treat revengefully
Russian мсти́ть, отомсти́ть
  • мсти́ть (mstítʹ)to take vengeance for
  • отомсти́ть (otomstítʹ)to take vengeance for
  • мсти́ть (mstítʹ)to treat revengefully
  • отомсти́ть (otomstítʹ)to treat revengefully
Scottish Gaelic dìol, dìol
  • dìolto take vengeance for
  • dìolto treat revengefully
Slovak mstiť sa, pomstiť sa
  • mstiť sato take vengeance for
  • pomstiť sato take vengeance for
Spanish vengar
  • vengarto take vengeance for
Swedish hämnas
  • hämnasto take vengeance for
Tamil பழிவாங்கு, பழிதீர்
  • பழிவாங்கு (paḻivāṅku)to take vengeance for
  • பழிதீர் (paḻitīr)to take vengeance for
  • பழிவாங்கு (paḻivāṅku)to treat revengefully
  • பழிதீர் (paḻitīr)to treat revengefully
Thai แก้แค้น, ล้างแค้น
  • แก้แค้น (gɛ̂ɛ-kɛ́ɛn)to take vengeance for
  • ล้างแค้น (láang-kɛ́ɛn)to take vengeance for
Turkish intikam almak, öç almak
  • intikam almakto take vengeance for
  • öç almakto take vengeance for
Ukrainian мсти́ти, помсти́ти
  • мсти́ти (mstýty)to take vengeance for
  • помсти́ти (pomstýty)to take vengeance for
  • відомща́ти (vidomščáty)to take vengeance for
  • відімсти́ти (vidimstýty)to take vengeance for
  • відомсти́ти (vidomstýty)to take vengeance for
  • мсти́тися (mstýtysja)to take vengeance for
  • помща́тися (pomščátysja)to take vengeance for
  • помсти́тися (pomstýtysja)to take vengeance for
Vietnamese phục thù, trả thù
  • phục thùto take vengeance for
  • trả thùto take vengeance for
Welsh dial am
  • dial amto take vengeance for

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with avenge

revengepenge
All rhymes →

Anagrams

geneva
Cite this entry
APA

avenge. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/avenge

MLA

“avenge.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/avenge. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “avenge,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/avenge.

Source: avenge on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.