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.
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