vice

Etymology 1

PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English vice, from Old French vice, from Latin vitium (“fault or blemish”). Displaced native Old English unþēaw.

noun

1. A bad habit.
   Pride is a vice, not a virtue.
   Smoking was a vice Sally picked up in high school.
   Shepard: I wear a lot of hats, Mr. Vargas. Some days I shut down criminals. Some days I defuse nukes. Some days I like to enjoy private vices. You understand me? 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Noveria
   It's a rush you can't deny / A little violence is the ultimate drug / Let's get high / You've been powerless to your vices / Self-control defies you 2015, Slayer (lyrics and music), “Vices”
   I should not be left to my own devices / they come with prices and vices / I end up in crisis / Tale as old as time 21 October 2022, Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, “Anti-Hero”, in Midnights, performed by Taylor Swift
2. (law) Any of various crimes related (depending on jurisdiction) to weapons, prostitution, pornography, gambling, alcohol, tobacco, or drugs.
3. (law enforcement, slang) Clipping of vice squad.
4. 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.
   1839, From the case of Scholefield v. Robb 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.”

Etymology 2

See vise.

noun

1. (UK) Alternative spelling of vise (“mechanical screw apparatus used for clamping”)
2. A tool for drawing lead into cames, or flat grooved rods, for casements.
3. (architecture) A winding or spiral staircase.
4. (obsolete) A grip or grasp.

verb

1. Alternative spelling of vise (“to hold or squeeze with a vice”)

Etymology 3

From Latin vice (“in place of”), ablative form of vicis. Compare French fois (“time”) and Spanish vez (“time, turn”).

adj

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

prep

1. (dated) instead of, in place of, versus (sense 2)

noun

1. One who acts in place of a superior.
   c. 1850s-1870s, Edward Minister and Son, The Gazette of Fashion and Cutting-Room Companion The health of the Vice was proposed in appropriate language; in replying, Mr. Marriott thanked the company […]