Etymograph

English

revanche

Revanche comes from French revanche ‘revenge’, from Latin vindicō ‘to protect someone from’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‘to pursue’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyh₁-1‘to pursue’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wéyHs2‘force, strength’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wīs2‘strength, force, power’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvim2
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīcere2
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvindex2‘defender, protector’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvindicō3as vindicāre‘to protect someone from’
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400vengier4‘to avenge, to take revenge (upon)’
  9. Old Frenchc. 842–1400revenchier4
  10. Frenchc. 1600–presentrevancher5‘to take revenge’
  11. Frenchc. 1600–presentrevanche6‘revenge’
  12. Englishtodayrevanche6

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *wéyHs
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin vindico
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old French vengier
  4. 4 Wiktionary, French revancher
  5. 5 Wiktionary, French revanche
  6. 6 Wiktionary, English revanche

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyh₁-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *wéyHs‘to pursue’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wéyHsWiktionary, Latin vindico‘force, strength’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wīsWiktionary, Latin vindico‘strength, force, power’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvimWiktionary, Latin vindico
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīcereWiktionary, Latin vindico
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvindexWiktionary, Latin vindico‘defender, protector’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvindicōWiktionary, Old French vengieras vindicāre‘to protect someone from’
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400vengierWiktionary, French revancher‘to avenge, to take revenge (upon)’
  9. Old Frenchc. 842–1400revenchierWiktionary, French revancher
  10. Frenchc. 1600–presentrevancherWiktionary, French revanche‘to take revenge’
  11. Frenchc. 1600–presentrevancheWiktionary, English revanche‘revenge’
  12. EnglishtodayrevancheWiktionary, English revanche

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‘to pursue’

previous, obvious, virtual, virtue, inevitable, voyage, convey, trivial, envoy, trivia, deviation, virtuous, virtuoso, venison, wer, viaduct, deviant, virile, virility, ochre, virago, trivium, obviate, 50 more

through Proto-Italic *wīs ‘strength, force, power’

violent, violation, violate, vis, violator, inviolable, 8 more

through Latin vim

vim, 7 more

through Latin vindicō ‘to protect someone from’

vindication, vindicate, 5 more

through Old French vengier ‘to avenge, to take revenge (upon)’

vengeance, avenge, 4 more

Today it means

noun Revenge or retaliation.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “revanche”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *wéyHs, Latin vindico, Old French vengier, French revancher, French revanche. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- / revanche

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