Etymograph

English

vicious

Vicious comes from Latin vitiōsus ‘full of faults or defects’, from Proto-Indo-European *(d)wi-tyo- ‘apart, wrong’, and perhaps ultimately from *dwóh₁ ‘two’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dwóh₁1‘two’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(d)wi-tyo-1‘apart, wrong’uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvitium2‘fault, vice’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvitiōsus2‘full of faults or defects’
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400vicious2
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vicious2‘Iniquitous, sinful, wicked’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1814vicious2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin vitium
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English vicious
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1814, Jane Austen: “Admiral Crawford was a man of vicious conduct, who…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dwóh₁Wiktionary, Latin vitium‘two’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(d)wi-tyo-Wiktionary, Latin vitium‘apart, wrong’uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvitiumWiktionary, English vicious‘fault, vice’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvitiōsusWiktionary, English vicious‘full of faults or defects’
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400viciousWiktionary, English vicious
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500viciousWiktionary, English vicious‘Iniquitous, sinful, wicked’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1814viciousWiktionary, English vicious. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1814, Jane Austen: “Admiral Crawford was a man of vicious conduct, who…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ ‘two’

two, doubt, defeat, twin, dual, duo, binary, diplomacy, duet, twain, bis, disparate, twig, deuce, bes, dubious, biceps, binocular, betwixt, 21 more

through Latin vitium ‘fault, vice’

vice, 2 more

Today it means

adj Violent, destructive and cruel.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “vicious”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin vitium. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ / vicious

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