Meaning & use
vis
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Force or power, especially as used in legal, philosophical, or scientific phrases borrowed from Latin.
See it in a sentence
Legal scholars debated whether the contract had been signed under vis major, an overwhelming external force.
Physicists once described kinetic energy using the Latin term vis viva, or "living force."
A note on using this word
"Vis" survives in English mainly through set Latin phrases such as "vis major" (an unavoidable superior force) and "vis-à-vis," meaning "in relation to."
Words with a similar meaning
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