avenge

[uh-venj] /əˈvɛndʒ/

verb (used with object), avenged, avenging.

to take vengeance or exact satisfaction for:

to avenge a grave insult.

to take vengeance on behalf of:

He avenged his brother.

Origin

1325-75; Middle English avengen < Old French avengier, equivalent to a- a-⁵ + vengier < Latin vindicāre; see vindicate

Related forms

avengeful, adjective

avenger, noun

avengingly, adverb

unavenged, adjective

unavenging, adjective

unavengingly, adverb

Synonyms

vindicate. Avenge, revenge both imply to inflict pain or harm in return for pain or harm inflicted on oneself or those persons or causes to which one feels loyalty. The two words were formerly interchangeable, but have been differentiated until they now convey widely diverse ideas. Avenge is now restricted to inflicting punishment as an act of retributive justice or as a vindication of propriety: to avenge a murder by bringing the criminal to trial. Revenge implies inflicting pain or harm to retaliate for real or fancied wrongs; a reflexive pronoun is often used with this verb: Iago wished to revenge himself upon Othello.

Antonyms

1. forgive.

Examples from the web for avenge

She promises not to avenge the coup or to rush into pardoning and bringing home her brother.
Both swore to avenge the dead and resuscitate the living.
It is not handled by some self-appointed vigilante who take it upon himself to avenge any affront to another.
She vows to avenge him, which drives the plot in the rest of the books.
The public in general has no way to punish or avenge that crime, but the law enforcement system does.
There are times when it is not inappropriate or even immoral to use overwhelming power merely to terrify and avenge.
To avenge their loss, the natives had murdered all of those connected with the venture.
Steve sets off after the shark, to avenge the ingestion of his friend.
It is better to avenge a friend than to mourn for him.
And still avenge each wrong, to friends or kindred done.

British Dictionary definitions for avenge

avenge

/əˈvɛndʒ/

verb

(usually transitive) to inflict a punishment in retaliation for (harm, injury, etc) done to (a person or persons); take revenge for or on behalf of: to avenge a crime, to avenge a murdered friend

Derived Forms

avenger, noun

Usage note

The use of avenge with a reflexive pronoun was formerly considered incorrect, but is now acceptable: she avenged herself on the man who killed her daughter

Word Origin

C14: from Old French avengier, from vengier, from Latin vindicāre; see vengeance, vindicate

Word Origin and History for avenge

late 14c., from Anglo-French avenger, Old French avengier, from a- "to" (see ad-) + vengier "take revenge" (Modern French venger), from Latin vindicare "to claim, avenge, punish" (see vindicate). Related: Avenged; avenging.