Where does “vicious” come from?

vicious (Old French) comes from Latin vitiōsus, from Latin vitium, from Proto-Indo-European wi-tio-, from Proto-Indo-European wei — guilt, vice, fault.

vicious (Old French): vicious; malicious; defective; not capable of...

Definitions

  1. vicious; malicious; defective; not capable of...

Ancestry of “vicious”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinvitiōsusfull of faults or defects; faulty, defective, bad, corrupt
2Latinvitiumflaw, defect, blemish, error, fault; vice; crime
3Proto-Indo-Europeanwi-tio-—
4Proto-Indo-Europeanweiguilt, vice, fault

Words derived from “vicious”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European wei →Every word from Proto-Indo-European wi-tio- →Every word from Latin vitium →