Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “vice” come from?

Vice comes from Latin vicis, the genitive form of vix, combined with the suffix -io, ultimately deriving from Latin videre meaning "to see" and Proto-Indo-European gʷeih₃w-.

vice (English): A bad habit; Any of various crimes related to...

Definitions

  1. A bad habit; Any of various crimes related to...

Ancestry of “vice”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishviceA fault or imperfection; a negative quality or...
2Old Frenchvice—
3Latinvitiumflaw, defect, blemish, error, fault; vice; crime
4Proto-Indo-Europeanwi-tio-—
5Proto-Indo-Europeanweiguilt, vice, fault

Words derived from “vice”

  • vicelike
  • antivice
  • viced
  • viceless
  • viceman
  • vicety
  • vices
Every word from Proto-Indo-European wei →