The familiar vice- in vice-president and vice-chancellor is a prefix-hence the hyphen attached to it. Which makes it all a bit of a muddle.įor our part, we'll stick by this recommendation for readers on the American side of the pond: use vise for the tool and vice for the bad habit.īefore we leave this topic entirely, however, we'll take a moment to address vice in two other incarnations. And historically, vise has at various times been the preferred spelling for both. Chances are it's not that simple.Īnd it's not: in British English vice is also used for the tool-that is, to spell vise. The tool has an s, the moral fault has a c keeping them straight isn't so very onerous a task.Įxcept, this is English. It's satisfying, we think, how distinct these are. It too traces back to Latin (to the word vitis, meaning "vine"), and entered the language by way of Anglo-French.Īnd that's the story on these two. Vise is a little younger it dates to the early 16th century. The word vise is also used figuratively to refer to something that is like a vise in the strength of its hold, such as "a vise of debt." A vise is handy, for example, when you've glued something together and need to keep it still while the glue dries. The jaws can be closed, usually by a screw, lever, or cam. It refers to a tool with two jaws for holding something. The word is Latin in origin, tracing back to the word vitium, meaning "fault, vice." It entered English by way of Anglo-French during the 14th century.
Minor foibles and bad habits can be described as vices, as can actions of such moral depravity that even regular readers of the most salacious tabloids are shocked, yes, shocked. Often contrasted with virtue, vice is used to refer to a variety of inadvisable acts and behaviors, from the merely blush-inducing to the truly scandalous. Send us feedback.Vice is the more common of this pair. These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'vice versa.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
2021 The cases were exceedingly mild - the animals had few or no symptoms - and experts concluded that humans had spread the virus to the pets, rather than vice versa. 2021 Has the seat been installed on this kind of airplane before, or does the seatmaker need to re-size it - down from the version used on a big Boeing 777 to a medium-sized Airbus A330, or vice versa? Scott Clement, William Bishop, Robert Barnes, Anchorage Daily News, 16 Nov. 2021 Women are more likely to say the court should uphold Roe than men, 64% to 56%, although partisanship outweighs gender, with Democratic men and Democratic women holding similar views on the issue, and vice versa for Republicans.
Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle, 17 Nov. 2021 There was nothing phony about the love Curry and Draymond Green were giving to their old teammate, and vice versa. Georgann Yara, The Arizona Republic, 19 Nov. Randy Johnson, Star Tribune, 31 July 2020 Howell has created connections with turf companies who send referrals his way and vice versa. 2021 Also, because of the long-term impact of the coronavirus pandemic, expect fewer nonconference games in which western teams fly east, and vice versa. 2021 Stricklin’s plan would keep the games that matter most to schools but ensure that quality games like Alabama at Florida or Alabama at Georgia - or vice versa - don’t happen once a decade. Recent Examples on the Web Here is an art game for people who also like adventure games, or vice versa.