• IPA: /əˈvɛnd͡ʒ/

avenge (avenges, present participle avenging; past and past participle avenged)

1. (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

   • 1673, John Milton, “Sonnet XV. On the late Maſſacher in Piemont.”, in Poems, &c. upon Several Occaſions., London: Printed for Tho. Dring […] , OCLC 1050806759 ↗, page 58 ↗:

     Avenge O Lord thy ſlaughter'd Saints, whoſe bones / Lie ſcatter'd on the Alpine mountains cold,

2. (intransitive, obsolete) To take vengeance.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Leviticus 19:18 ↗:

     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.

3. (transitive, archaic) To treat revengefully; to wreak vengeance on.

   • thy judgment in avenging thine enemies

• (take vengeance) bewreak, get back at, retaliate, take revenge
• (treat revengefully) spite
• See also Thesaurus:avenge

• French: venger
• German: rächen, ahnden
• Italian: vendicare
• Portuguese: vingar
• Russian: мсти́ть
• Spanish: vengar

• Portuguese: vingar

avenge (plural avenges)

1. (archaic) An act of vengeance; a revenge.