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Origin and history of vice-

vice-

word-forming element of Latin origin meaning "deputy, assistant, substitute," also "instead of, in place of," 15c., from Medieval Latin use of Latin vice "in place of," ablative of vicis "a change, a turn, interchange alternation" (from PIE root *weik- (2) "to bend, to wind").

In Middle English it usually figures in words borrowed from French, sometimes in Old French form vis-, vi-. When attached to personal titles the sense of "acting as a deputy" tends to imply "subordinate in rank, second in rank to," which becomes explicit in vice-president.

also from 15c.

Entries linking to vice-

vice-president(n.)

also vice president, 1570s, "one who acts as a deputy for a president," from vice- + president. Made into an official rank and given a different meaning (vice = "next in rank to") in the U.S. Constitution (1787).

There seems to be no doubt of my election as V[ice] Pres[iden]t. It will have at least one advantage, that of permitting me to devote more of my time to my private affairs. [John C. Calhoun, letter to wife, Nov. 12, 1824]

Related: vice-presidential; vice-presidency. The bucket of warm spit quip generally is attributed to John Nance Garner.

viceregent(n.)

also vice-regent, "deputy regent," 1580s, from vice- + regent (n.). Difficult to distinguish from vicegerent. Related: Viceregal.

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viceroy
person ruling as representative of a sovereign, 1520s, from French vice-roy, from Old French vice- "deputy" (see vice-) + roi "king," from Latin regem (nominative rex) "king," which is related to regere "to keep straight, guide, lead, rule" (from PIE root *reg- "move in a straigh
veep
1949, American English, apparently coined from V.P., abbreviation of vice president, perhaps modeled on jeep, which was then...Barkley (1877-1956), Harry Truman's vice president....According to the "Saturday Evening Post," "his grandchildren, finding Vice-President too long, call him that."...Barkley says word "Veep" is not copyrighted, and any vice president who wants to can use it....
pestilence
Also in Middle English "wickedness, evil, sin, a vice, that which is morally pestilential."...
detraction
mid-14c., detraccioun, "the vice of slandering;" late 14c., "act of disparaging or belittling, act of depreciating the powers...
salve
Figurative use is by late 12c. in reference to sin or vice; the non-religious sense of "to help, remedy, atone for" is by...
iniquity
Old Iniquity (1610s) was a comic or buffoonish character in old morality plays, representing vice....
Comstockery
1905, from Anthony Comstock (1844-1915), founder of New York Society for the Suppression of Vice (1873) and self-appointed...
epic
1580s, "pertaining to or constituting a lengthy heroic poem," via French épique or directly from Latin epicus, from Greek epikos, from epos "a word; a tale, story; promise, prophecy, proverb; poetry in heroic verse" (from PIE root *wekw- "to speak"). Extended sense of "grand, her
person
c. 1200, persoun, "an individual, a human being," from Old French persone "human being, anyone, person" (12c., Modern French personne) and directly from Latin persona "human being, person, personage; a part in a drama, assumed character," originally "a mask, a false face," such a
brunch
1896, British student slang merger of breakfast and lunch. ACCORDING to the Lady, to be fashionable nowadays we must "brunch." Truly an excellent portmanteau word, introduced, by the way, last year, by Mr GUY BERINGER, in the now defunct Hunter's Weekly, and indicating a combine

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