Avenge

How to spell avenge

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce avenge

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does avenge mean?

1. verbTo inflict just punishment or retribution on behalf of someone who has been wronged, or in response to a wrong.

Avenge in a sentence

• The hero swore to avenge his murdered brother.

• The team set out to avenge last season's humiliating defeat.

Where does avenge come from?

Language of origin: French

The word comes through Old French avengier, which combined the prefix a- (from Latin ad-, meaning 'to' or 'towards', here acting as an intensifier) with vengier, meaning 'to take vengeance'. That French verb traces back to the Latin vindicare, which originally meant 'to lay legal claim to something' and then broadened to 'to set free, to punish, or to avenge'. English picked the word up in the 1300s, settling on the sense of exacting just retribution on behalf of a wronged person. The same Latin vindicare root also gave English 'vindicate' and 'vengeance', and recognising that shared family helps explain the central -venge spelling. The opening 'a' is easy to forget precisely because it is unstressed and reduced to a faint schwa in speech.

How the word is built

• a- (from Latin ad-: to, towards, intensive)
• venge (from Latin vindicare: to claim, punish)