Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Vengeance \Venge"ance\, n. [F. vengeance, fr. venger to avenge,
   L. vindicare to lay claim to, defend, avenge, fr. vindex a
   claimant, defender, avenger, the first part of which is of
   uncertain origin, and the last part akin to dicere to say.
   See {Diction}, and cf. {Avenge}, {Revenge}, {Vindicate}.]
   1. Punishment inflicted in return for an injury or an
      offense; retribution; -- often, in a bad sense, passionate
      or unrestrained revenge.

            To me belongeth vengeance and recompense. --Deut.
                                                  xxxii. 35.

            To execute fierce vengeance on his foes. --Milton.

   2. Harm; mischief. [Obs.] --Shak.

   {What a vengeance}, or {What the vengeance}, what! --
      emphatically. [Obs.] ``But what a vengeance makes thee
      fly!'' --Hudibras. ``What the vengeance! Could he not
      speak 'em fair?'' --Shak.

   {With a vengeance}, with great violence; as, to strike with a
      vengeance. [Colloq.]

Source : WordNet®

vengeance
     n : the act of taking revenge (harming someone in retaliation
         for something harmful that they have done) especially in
         the next life; "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith
         the Lord"--Romans 12:19; "For vengeance I would do
         nothing. This nation is too great to look for mere
         revenge"--James Garfield; "he swore vengeance on the man
         who betrayed him"; "the swiftness of divine retribution"
         [syn: {retribution}, {payback}]