Origin: 1525–35; < Latin vindicātus (past participle of vindicāre to lay legal claim to (property), to free (someone) from servitude (by claiming him as free), to protect, avenge, punish), equivalent to vindic- (stem of vindex claimant, protector, avenger) + -ātus-ate1
Related forms
vin·di·ca·tor, noun
re·vin·di·cate, verb (used with object), -cat·ed, -cat·ing.
1620s, "to avenge or revenge," from L. vindicatus, pp. of vindicare (see vindication). Meaning "to clear from censure or doubt, by means of demonstration" is recorded from 1630s. Related: Vindicated, vindicating.