vice
UK: vaɪs | US: vaɪs
n. immoral or wicked behavior
n. a minor moral fault or habit
n. a tool used to hold objects firmly in place (British English: "vice"; American English: "vise")
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The word "vice" traces back to Latin vitium, meaning "fault" or "defect." It entered Middle English via Old French vice, retaining its original sense of moral weakness or corruption. Over time, it broadened to include minor bad habits (e.g., "a vice for chocolate"). The unrelated tool meaning (British "vice") derives from Latin vitis (vine), referencing its screw mechanism resembling a vine's tendrils.
Greed is often considered a vice in many cultures.
His only vice is drinking coffee late at night.
The carpenter secured the wood in a vice before sawing.
Society must address the vice of corruption in politics.
She laughed off his harmless vice of collecting odd socks.