vengeance
nouncommon in dialogue
- //ˈvɛnˌd͡ʒəns//
Revenge taken for an insult, injury, or other wrong.
noun
- 1
Revenge taken for an insult, injury, or other wrong.
All the gods have mocked at prayer. This sin must now be punished by the vengeance of men.
My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North; General of the Felix Legions; loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius; father to a murdered son; husband to a murdered wife; and I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.
Penn: I don't want to invest in the conversation, not that I don't have it privately, about my feelings about what direct action should happen to a leader who does that, but if there is a God, there will be vengeance beyond all possible comprehension. Hannity: "Vengeance is mine saith the Lord", quoted in a very famous book.
- 2
Desire for revenge.
Thereupon full of anger, full of jealousy, full of vengeance, she forms […] a scheme of retribution, […]
If her husband was all forgiveness, asking the bands to play “Dixie,” she was full of vengeance […]
Are they full of vengeance[?], because they say that people with vengeance in their hearts must dig two graves, one for their enemy and the other for themselves.
Etymology
From Anglo-Norman vengeaunce, from Old French vengeance, venjance, from vengier (“to avenge”). Analysable as venge + -ance.
Forms
- plural
- vengeances
vengeance · Revenge taken for an insult, injury, or other wrong.
Venice · A port city and comune, the capital of the Metropolitan City…venom · An animal toxin intended for defensive or offensive use; a…vent · An opening through which gases, especially air, can pass.