c. 1300, from Anglo-French vengeaunce, Old French vengeance, venjance "revenge, retribution" (12c.), from vengier "take revenge," from Latin vindicare "assert a claim, claim as one's own; avenge, punish" (see vindicate).
Vengeance is mine, ... saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head. [Paul to the Romans, xii:19-20]