(vīs) noun
1. A moral blemish or taint; an immoral habit or trait: the vice of intemperance.
2. Habitual indulgence in degrading or harmful appetites; deviation from moral rectitude; depravity.
3. Something that mars; a defect; blemish.
4. A physical deformity, taint, or imperfection.
5. A bad trick, as of a horse. See synonyms under SIN¹.
—inherent vice In insurance, a hazard arising from a preexistent condition not manifest when the commodity was insured and therefore not covered by the insurance policy: Eggs of worms were the inherent vice that ruined the cargo of hides. ♦ Homophone: vise. [<OF <L vitium a fault]

(vīs)
See VISE.

(vīs) adjective
Acting in the place of; substitute; deputy: vice president.
—noun One who acts in the place of another; a substitute; deputy.
—vi·ce (vī′sē) prep.
Instead of; in the place of. [<L, ablative of vicis change]
Vice may appear as a combining form in hyphemes or as the first element in two–word phrases: