Definition

1. Verb:
   • To avenge; to take revenge: To inflict harm or punishment on someone in return for a wrong or injury they have caused. This action is often driven by a desire for retribution or to settle a score. It implies a response to a past grievance.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Hắn tìm cách báo oán kẻ đã phá hủy gia đình mình. (He sought to avenge the one who destroyed his family.)
  • Câu chuyện xoay quanh chủ đề báo oán của một linh hồn. (The story revolves around the theme of a ghost's revenge.)
  • Họ không tin vào việc báo oán, mà tin vào luật pháp. (They do not believe in taking revenge, but in the law.)

Advanced Usage

• The concept is deeply rooted in historical and literary contexts, often portraying a moral or cyclical conflict where one act of vengeance leads to another.
• It can be used in a broader, more figurative sense to describe any forceful retaliation or payback, not necessarily between people (e.g., nature "taking revenge").

Variants and Related Words

• Trả thù (v): to take revenge, to retaliate. This is a more general and commonly used synonym.
• Báo thù (v): to take revenge. Very similar in meaning and often used interchangeably with , though can sometimes carry a stronger connotation of redressing a grave injustice.
• Báo ơn (v): to repay a kindness; to show gratitude. This is the conceptual opposite, forming a common pair: (to repay kindness and avenge wrongs).

Synonyms

• Avenge
• Take revenge
• Retaliate
• Get even

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Báo ơn báo oán: To repay kindness and avenge wrongs; to settle all accounts, both good and bad.
  • Đó là triết lý báo ơn báo oán rõ ràng. (That is a clear philosophy of repaying kindness and avenging wrongs.)
• Oán thù (n): enmity, feud, or hatred resulting from a wrong. This noun describes the state of grievance that leads to .
  • Mối oán thù giữa hai gia tộc kéo dài hàng thế kỷ. (The feud between the two families lasted for centuries.)

verb

1. to avenge; to revenge