Revenche

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. A strong desire to exact retribution for a wrong suffered ; the act of seeking to redress an injury or insult ; the historical movement or sentiment aimed at regaining lost territory, especially in a nationalistic context
2. The drive to obtain vengeance after being wronged ; the pursuit of justice or compensation for past grievances ; a political or popular campaign to reclaim territory perceived as rightfully belonging to one’s nation
3. An emotional impulse to retaliate for past offenses ; efforts to restore honor or correct perceived injustices ; a national or cultural aspiration to recover lands lost in previous conflicts

Etymology: Latin "vindicare" meant to claim something as one's own, often in a legal sense, and it also gave English "vindicate." Through Latin "vindicare" came Old French "vengier," to avenge, and the prefix "re-" was added to form "revencher," meaning to take revenge. The noun "revenche" is the Middle English spelling of this Old French form, and modern "revenge" developed from it. The spelling changed over time, but the sense of avenging a wrong stayed the same. The English sense of "revenge" is therefore a sharpened version of an older idea of reclaiming what was owed. Spellings like "revenche" were common in Middle English before the modern form settled, and they show the word arriving through French rather than directly from Latin.