Etymology

vice

V4I1C3E1

Today it means: Bad or immoral behaviour. (Especially often, a habit that harms oneself or others) Full definition →

Middle English vice ← Old French vice ← Latin vitium
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vice · noun1

  1. Latin · derived fromvitium“fault or blemish”
  2. Old French · derived fromvice
  3. Middle English · inherited fromvice
  4. English todayvice

PIE word *dwóh₁ Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ Proto-Indo-European *(d)wi-tyo-? ▲ Proto-Indo-European *dwi- Proto-Indo-European *wí? Latin vitium Old French vicebor. Middle English vice English vice From Middle English vice, from Old French vice, from Latin vitium (“fault or blemish”). Displaced native Old English unþēaw.

vice · noun, verb2

See vise.

vice · adjective, preposition, noun3

  1. Proto-Indo-European*weyk-
  2. Latinvicis
  3. Latinvice
  4. English todayvice

From Latin vice (“in place of”), ablative form of vicis. Compare French fois (“time”) and Spanish vez (“time, turn”).

Words from the same roots

Latinvice all →

viscountvice-vidame

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.