Vice Versa Meaning: Definition and Examples

“Vice versa” is a phrase that means “the other way around,” or that the reverse order or meaning of a statement is also true. American English speakers and writers use it as an adverb or adverbial phrase to elaborate on the conditions or qualities of an action. Though the phrase “vice versa” is common in the English language, it comes from the Latin words “vicis,” meaning “to change,” and “vertere,” meaning “to turn.”

“Vice versa” is also a loan word: a non-native word or phrase that one language borrows from an originating language. Widely known loan words do not require hyphenation or italicization or need to be set off in quotation marks. Similar loan words and phrases taken from Latin and used in American English include “et cetera,” “ad hoc,” and “ad absurdum.”

Synonyms for “vice versa” include the word “conversely” or the phrase “the other way around.”

“Vice versa” is another way of saying that someone should simultaneously consider a preceding statement and the reversal of that statement to be true. Look at the following example sentences to learn more about how to use the phrase:

1. 1. “Shannon is developing feelings for Mark, and vice versa.” Shannon is the subject of the independent clause—“Shannon is developing feelings for Mark”—and “Mark” is the object she is developing feelings for. The dependent clause “and vice versa” indicates that “Mark” (the subject of the new clause) is also developing feelings for “Shannon” (the object of the new clause).
2. 2. “You can travel by airplane from Los Angeles to New York, and vice versa.” The independent clause in this sentence—“You can travel by airplane from Los Angeles to New York”—indicates that the subject “you” can perform the action “travel by airplane from Los Angeles to New York.” The dependent clause “and vice versa” indicates that the subject “you” can also act on the initial clause in the opposite order and travel by airplane from New York to Los Angeles.
3. 3. “George misses spending time with his family, and vice versa.” The independent clause and preceding statement in this sentence—“George misses spending time with his family”—with the subject “George” longing to do the action of “spending time” with the object, which is “his family.” The dependent clause “vice versa” reverses the initial statement, meaning that George’s family also misses spending time with him.

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