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Origin and history of vice

vice(n.1)

c. 1300, "moral fault, wickedness;" mid-14c. in reference to a specific individual sin; from Old French vice "fault, failing, defect, irregularity, misdemeanor" (12c.), from Latin vitium "defect, offense, blemish, imperfection," in both physical and moral senses (in Medieval Latin also vicium; source also of Italian vezzo "usage, entertainment"), which is of uncertain origin. De Vaan supports origin in a PIE *(d)ui-tio- "apart, wrong." In Old French, the seven deadly sins were les set vices.

The looser sense of "flaw in someone's personality or manner, bad habit, unattractive behavior" is by late 14c. Vice squad "special police unit targeting prostitution, narcotics, gambling, etc.," is attested by 1905, when New York City introduced the first so called; some editors attempted to clarify it to anti-vice squad.

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, "Pensées"]

also from c. 1300

vice(n.2)

"tool for holding," see vise.

Entries linking to vice

vise(n.)

early 14c., "a winch, a crane for lifting," from Anglo-French vice, Old French vis, viz "screw," from Latin vītis "vine, tendril of a vine," literally "that which winds," from root of viere "to bind, twist" (from PIE root *wei- "to turn, twist, bend").

The meaning "clamping tool with two jaws closed by a screw," used to hold an object firmly in place when working on it, is attested from c. 1500.

Also in Middle English of the device like a screw or winch for bending a crossbow or catapult; the newel of a spiraling staircase; the screw of a press; and a twisted tie for fastening a hood under the chin.

vicious(adj.)

mid-14c., of habit or practice, "immoral, unwholesome, characterized by or of the nature of vice, pernicious, harmful;" late 14c., of persons, "addicted to vice or immorality, habitually transgressing moral law;" of a text, "erroneous, corrupt," from Anglo-French vicious, Old French vicios "wicked, cunning, underhand; defective, illegal" (Modern French vicieux) and directly from Latin vitiosus (Medieval Latin vicious) "faulty, full of faults, defective, corrupt; wicked, depraved," from vitium "fault" (see vice (n.1)).

In reference to animals, "inclined to be savage or dangerous," it is recorded by 1690s, especially of horses not well broken or trained. In reference to persons, writings, the sense of "full of spite, bitter, severe" is attested by 1825, originally colloquial.

In law, "marred by some inherent fault" (late 14c.). Hence also this sense in logic, "impaired or spoiled by some fault or blemish" (c. 1600), as in vicious circle in reasoning (1650s, Latin circulus vitiosus), which by 1839 was used in a general sense of "situation in which action and reaction intensify one another." Related: Viciously (mid-14c., "sinfully"); viciousness.