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vice - 19 dictionary results
vice
1
[vahys] 
,–noun
| 1. | an immoral or evil habit or practice. |
| 2. | immoral conduct; depraved or degrading behavior: a life of vice. |
| 3. | sexual immorality, esp. prostitution. |
| 4. | a particular form of depravity. |
| 5. | a fault, defect, or shortcoming: a minor vice in his literary style. |
| 6. | a physical defect, flaw, or infirmity: a constitutional vice. |
| 7. | a bad habit, as in a horse. |
| 8. | (initial capital letter ) a character in the English morality plays, a personification of general vice or of a particular vice, serving as the buffoon. |
Origin:
1250–1300; ME < AF, OF < L vitium a fault, defect, vice
1250–1300; ME < AF, OF < L vitium a fault, defect, vice
Antonyms:
1, 2. virtue.
1, 2. virtue.
vi⋅ce
3 [vahy-see, -suh, vahys] –preposition
| instead of; in the place of. |
Origin:
1760–70; < L: instead of, abl. of vicis (gen.; not attested in nom.) interchange, alternation
1760–70; < L: instead of, abl. of vicis (gen.; not attested in nom.) interchange, alternation
vice-
| a combining form meaning “deputy,” used in the formation of compound words, usually titles of officials who serve in the absence of the official denoted by the base word: viceroy; vice-chancellor. |
vise
[vahys] noun, verb, vised, vis⋅ing.–noun
| 1. | any of various devices, usually having two jaws that may be brought together or separated by means of a screw, lever, or the like, used to hold an object firmly while work is being done on it. |
–verb (used with object)
| 2. | to hold, press, or squeeze with or as with a vise. |
Also, vice.
Origin:
1300–50; ME vis < OF: screw < L vītis vine (whose spiral form gave later sense)
1300–50; ME vis < OF: screw < L vītis vine (whose spiral form gave later sense)
Related forms:
viselike, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To vice
| vice 1 (vīs) n.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin vitium.] |
| vice 2 (vīs) n. & v. Variant of vise. |
| vi·ce 3 (vī'sē, -sə) prep. In place of; replacing. [Latin ablative of *vix, change; see vice-.] |
| vise also vice (vīs) n. A clamping device, usually consisting of two jaws closed or opened by a screw or lever, used in carpentry or metalworking to hold a piece in position. tr.v. vised also viced, vis·ing also vic·ing, vis·es also vic·es To hold or compress in or as if in a vise. [Middle English vis, screwlike device, from Old French, screw, from Latin vītis, vine (from its spiral wrappings); see wei- in Indo-European roots.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Vice
Vice\, n. [F., from L. vitium.]1. A defect; a fault; an error; a blemish; an imperfection; as, the vices of a political constitution; the vices of a horse. Withouten vice of syllable or letter. --Chaucer. Mark the vice of the procedure. --Sir W. Hamilton. 2. A moral fault or failing; especially, immoral conduct or habit, as in the indulgence of degrading appetites; customary deviation in a single respect, or in general, from a right standard, implying a defect of natural character, or the result of training and habits; a harmful custom; immorality; depravity; wickedness; as, a life of vice; the vice of intemperance. I do confess the vices of my blood. --Shak. Ungoverned appetite . . . a brutish vice. --Milton. When vice prevails, and impious men bear sway, The post of honor is a private station. --Addison. 3. The buffoon of the old English moralities, or moral dramas, having the name sometimes of one vice, sometimes of another, or of Vice itself; -- called also Iniquity. Note: This character was grotesquely dressed in a cap with ass's ears, and was armed with a dagger of lath: one of his chief employments was to make sport with the Devil, leaping on his back, and belaboring him with the dagger of lath till he made him roar. The Devil, however, always carried him off in the end. --Nares. How like you the Vice in the play? . . . I would not give a rush for a Vice that has not a wooden dagger to snap at everybody. --B. Jonson. Syn: Crime; sin; iniquity; fault. See Crime.Vice
Vi"ce\, prep. [L., abl. of vicis change, turn. See Vicarious.] In the place of; in the stead; as, A. B. was appointed postmaster vice C. D. resigned.Vice
Vice\, a. [Cf. F. vice-. See Vice, prep.] Denoting one who in certain cases may assume the office or duties of a superior; designating an officer or an office that is second in rank or authority; as, vice president; vice agent; vice consul, etc. Vice admiral. [Cf. F. vice-amiral.] (a) An officer holding rank next below an admiral. By the existing laws, the rank of admiral and vice admiral in the United States Navy will cease at the death of the present incumbents. (b) A civil officer, in Great Britain, appointed by the lords commissioners of the admiralty for exercising admiralty jurisdiction within their respective districts. Vice admiralty, the office of a vice admiral. Vice-admiralty court, a court with admiralty jurisdiction, established by authority of Parliament in British possessions beyond the seas. --Abbott. Vice chamberlain, an officer in court next in rank to the lord chamberlain. [Eng.] Vice chancellor. (a) (Law) An officer next in rank to a chancellor. (b) An officer in a university, chosen to perform certain duties, as the conferring of degrees, in the absence of the chancellor. (c) (R. C. Ch.) The cardinal at the head of the Roman Chancery. Vice consul [cf. F. vice-consul], a subordinate officer, authorized to exercise consular functions in some particular part of a district controlled by a consul. Vice king, one who acts in the place of a king; a viceroy. Vice legate [cf. F. vice-l['e]gat], a legate second in rank to, or acting in place of, another legate. Vice presidency, the office of vice president. Vice president [cf. F. vice-pr['e]sident], an officer next in rank below a president.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : vice
Spanish:
torno de banco,
German:
der Schraubstock,
Japanese:
万力
vice (1)
"moral fault, wickedness," 1297, from O.Fr. vice, from L. vitium "defect, offense, blemish, imperfection," in both physical and moral senses (cf. It. vezzo "usage, entertainment").
"Horace and Aristotle have already spoken to us about the virtues of their forefathers and the vices of their own times, and through the centuries, authors have talked the same way. If all this were true, we would be bears today." [Montesquieu]Vice squad is attested from 1905.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: vice
Pronunciation: 'vIs
Function: noun
1 : a moral fault or failing
2 : DEFECT
3 : immoral activity (as prostitution)
Main Entry: vice
Pronunciation: 'vIs, 'vI-sE
Function: preposition
Etymology: Latin, ablative of vic- place, turn
: in the place of vice the absent chairman>; also : rather than
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Main Entry: vice
Pronunciation: 'vIs
Function: noun
: an abnormal behavior pattern in a domestic animal detrimental to its health or usefulness
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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