Etymograph

English

venge

Venge comes from Old French venger, from Latin vindicō ‘to avenge, vindicate’, 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 vindicare‘to avenge, vindicate’
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400venger3
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vengen3‘to avenge’
  10. Englishearliest quotation c. 1595venge3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *wéyHs
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin vindico
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English venge
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1595, William Shakespeare, Richard II: “To safeguard thine own life / The best way…”.

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, English vengeas vindicare‘to avenge, vindicate’
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400vengerWiktionary, English venge
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vengenWiktionary, English venge‘to avenge’
  10. Englishearliest quotation c. 1595vengeWiktionary, English venge. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1595, William Shakespeare, Richard II: “To safeguard thine own life / The best way…”

Linked words

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

previous, obvious, virtual, inevitable, virtue, trivial, voyage, convey, trivia, deviation, virtuous, envoy, deviant, virtuoso, wer, viaduct, ochre, virile, virility, venison, virago, trivium, obviate, 52 more

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

violent, violation, violate, vis, violator, inviolable, 10 more

through Latin vim

vim, 9 more

through Latin vindicō ‘to avenge, vindicate’

vindication, vindicate, 6 more

Today it means

verb To avenge; to punish; to revenge.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “venge”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *wéyHs, Latin vindico. 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- / venge

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