The vice versa meaning is "the other way round": whatever you just said is also true with the two things swapped. "Cats chase dogs and vice versa" means cats chase dogs, and dogs chase cats too.
It saves you from repeating a whole sentence backwards. English speakers use it in casual chat, school essays and office emails alike, and few Latin borrowings turn up more often in ordinary English.
Entry at a glance
Meaning
The other way round; in reverse orderPart of speech
Latin phrase used as an adverbPronunciation
VY-suh VUR-suh; also VYS VUR-suh or VY-see VUR-suhOrigin
Latin, "the position being turned"; in English from about 1600Close words
conversely, the other way around, and the reverseRegister
Neutral; fine in speech and formal writing
Vice versa meaning in English, shown with pairs
A working vice versa definition: the reverse also holds. To define vice versa in practice, take any sentence with two people or things in it, A and B. Adding vice versa tells the listener that the sentence works with A and B in each other's places as well.
- "Priya helps Sam with maths, and vice versa." = Priya helps Sam, and Sam helps Priya.
- "You can travel from Mumbai to Pune by train or vice versa." = Mumbai to Pune, or Pune to Mumbai.
- "Hot weather affects sleep, and vice versa." = Heat affects sleep, and sleep affects how you cope with heat.
The phrase only works when there is a clear pair to flip. If your sentence has one subject and no matching partner, there is nothing to reverse.
More example sentences
- The marketing team rarely talks to sales, and vice versa.
- Our cat is scared of the vacuum cleaner, but not vice versa, sadly for the vacuum.
- Students can swap the Tuesday lab for Thursday or vice versa.
- Shy children often have shy parents, and vice versa.
- In our office the tea drinkers tease the coffee drinkers, and vice versa.
Where the phrase sits in a sentence
Vice versa usually closes its clause, after and, or or but not:
- and vice versa: both directions are true
- or vice versa: either direction is possible
- but not vice versa: only the first direction is true ("Every square is a rectangle, but not vice versa.")
A comma before and vice versa is optional; use one if the sentence is long. You do not need to put the phrase in italics, because English absorbed it centuries ago. It also has no hyphen.
Spelling slips and mix-ups
| Wrong | Right |
|---|---|
| visa versa | vice versa |
| vice a versa | vice versa |
| vise versa | vice versa |
| vice-versa | vice versa (no hyphen in standard use) |
The "vice" here is not the word for a bad habit, which has a separate Latin source. It comes from vicis, a turn or change, the root that also gives us vice in titles like vice principal (someone acting in place of another), vicar and vicarious.
Other ways to say it
- The other way round or the other way around: the plainest choice, good for speech.
- Conversely: starts a new sentence that states the reverse case: "Conversely, a drop in sales means lower stock."
- And the reverse is also true: clear but longer.
- Mutually: when the action goes both ways at once, as in "mutually respectful."
Pick vice versa when you want to keep the sentence short and the pair is obvious.
Latin roots
In Latin, vice is a form of vicis, a change or turn, and versa comes from vertere, to turn. So the literal meaning of vice versa is roughly "the position being turned" or "the order being changed." English writers had adopted the phrase by around 1600. It sits alongside other borrowed phrases such as et al, ad hoc and status quo; you will find more on our foreign phrases page.
Frequently asked questions
How do you pronounce vice versa?
Most people say VY-suh VUR-suh. VYS VUR-suh, with "vice" as one syllable, is also very common and accepted. In classical Latin it would have sounded quite different, but that pronunciation is not used in normal English.
Is it visa versa or vice versa?
Vice versa. "Visa versa" is a common misspelling because the first word is often spoken with two syllables, so it sounds a little like visa.
Is it fine to open a sentence with vice versa?
You can, but it is less common and can sound abrupt. Most writers place it at the end, after and or or. To begin a sentence with the reverse idea, conversely usually reads better.
Does vice versa need a comma?
No strict rule applies. "Teachers learn from students and vice versa" is fine without one. In a longer sentence a comma before and vice versa can make it easier to read.
Is vice versa formal or informal?
It works in both. You can use it in a text message or in a research paper without sounding out of place.
Should vice versa be in italics?
No. It is fully part of English, so style guides generally print it in normal type, like et cetera.