Etymograph

English

vengeance

Vengeance comes from Old French vengier ‘to avenge’, 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’
  9. Old Frenchc. 842–1400vengeance4
  10. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400vengeaunce4
  11. Englishearliest quotation 1855vengeance4

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, English vengeance
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1855, – 1857 June, Charles Dickens: “Thereupon full of anger, full of jealousy, full of…”.

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, English vengeance‘to avenge’
  9. Old Frenchc. 842–1400vengeanceWiktionary, English vengeance
  10. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400vengeaunceWiktionary, English vengeance
  11. Englishearliest quotation 1855vengeanceWiktionary, English vengeance. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1855, – 1857 June, Charles Dickens: “Thereupon full of anger, full of jealousy, full of…”

Linked words

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

previous, obvious, virtual, inevitable, virtue, voyage, trivial, convey, trivia, deviation, envoy, virtuous, virtuoso, wer, deviant, viaduct, ochre, venison, virile, virility, virago, trivium, obviate, 51 more

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

violent, violation, violate, vis, violator, inviolable, 9 more

through Latin vim

vim, 8 more

through Latin vindicō ‘to protect someone from’

vindication, vindicate, 6 more

through Old French vengier ‘to avenge’

avenge, 5 more

Today it means

noun Revenge taken for an insult, injury, or other wrong.

Sources

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

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