vice

See also: Vice, více, and vice-

English

Pronunciation

  • (UK, US) IPA(key): /vaɪs/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -aɪs
  • Homophone: vise

Etymology 1

From Anglo-Norman, from Old French, from Latin vitium (“fault or blemish”).

Noun

vice (plural vices)

  1. A bad habit.
    Gluttony is a vice, not a virtue.
  2. (law) Any of various crimes related (depending on jurisdiction) to prostitution, pornography, gambling, alcohol, or drugs.
  3. A defect in the temper or behaviour of a horse, such as to make the animal dangerous, to injure its health, or to diminish its usefulness.
    • From the case of Scholefield v. Robb (1839). Gilligan, Brenda (2002) Practical Horse Law‎, →ISBN: “So a horse with say, navicular disease, making him suitable only for light hacking, would probably be unsound, whereas rearing would be a vice, being a "defect in the temper... making it dangerous". A vice can however render a horse unsound - possibly a crib biter will damage its wind.”
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

See also

Etymology 2

From French vis (“screw, winding stairs”), from Old French vis, viz, from Latin vitis (“vine”). Akin to English withy.

Alternative forms

Noun

vice (plural vices)

  1. A mechanical screw apparatus used for clamping or holding (also spelled vise).
  2. A tool for drawing lead into cames, or flat grooved rods, for casements.
  3. (obsolete) A grip or grasp.
  4. (architecture) A winding or spiral staircase.
Translations

Verb

vice (third-person singular simple present vices, present participle vicing, simple past and past participle viced)

  1. To hold or squeeze with a vice, or as if with a vice.
    • 1610, William Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale, I. ii. 416:
      Camillo. As he had seen’t, or been an instrument / To vice you to't, that you have touched his queen / Forbiddenly
    • De Quincey
      The coachman's hand was viced between his upper and lower thigh.

Etymology 3

From Latin vice (“in place of”), ablative form of vicis.

Adjective

vice (not comparable)

  1. in place of; subordinate to; designating a person below another in rank
    vice president
    vice admiral
Derived terms

Preposition

vice

  1. instead of, in place of
    A. B. was appointed postmaster vice C. D. resigned.

Anagrams

Esperanto

Adverb

vice

  1. in rows

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin vītium.

Pronunciation

Noun

vice m (plural vices)

  1. vice

Derived terms

See also

Further reading

Ido

Preposition

vice

  1. instead of

Adverb

vice

  1. instead

Italian

Etymology

From Latin vicem.

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -itʃe

Noun

vice m, f (invariable)

  1. deputy, substitute, vice

Anagrams

Latin

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Noun

vice

  1. ablative singular of vicis

Preposition

vice

  1. in place of, subordinate to

Derived terms

Descendants

Etymology 2

Noun

vīce

  1. vocative singular of vīcus

References

  • vice in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • vice in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • vice in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French vice, borrowed from Latin vitium.

Noun

vice m (plural vices)

  1. vice (bad habit)

Descendants

Portuguese

Noun

vice m, f (plural vices)

  1. used as an abbreviation of any word containing the prefix vice-

Slovene

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈʋìːtsɛ/, /ˈʋíːtsɛ/
  • Tonal orthography: více, vȋce

Noun

více f pl (genitive víc, plural only)

  1. purgatory

Declension

Spanish

Noun

vice m, f (plural vice)

  1. vice (second in command)

Swedish

Pronunciation

  • Audio(file)

Adjective

vice

  1. vice, second in rank, deputy, stand-in, acting
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