vice Hear it!

vice1 definition

vice (vīs)

noun

    1. an evil or wicked action, habit, or characteristic
    2. evil or wicked conduct or behavior; depravity or corruption
    3. prostitution
    4. in old English morality plays, a character, often a buffoon, representing a vice or vice in general
  1. any trivial fault or failing, act of self-indulgence, etc.
  2. a defect or flaw, as in a work of art
  3. any physical or functional defect or imperfection of the body
  4. a bad or harmful trick or habit, as of a horse or dog

Etymology: ME < OFr < L vitium, vice, fault < IE base *wi-, apart, in two > with, Sans viṣu-, in opposite directions

vice2 definition

vice (sē, -sə)

in the place of; as the deputy or successor of

Etymology: L: see vice-

vice3 definition

vice (vīs)

noun, transitive verb

Brit. vise

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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