Vie

How to spell vie

3 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce vie

What does vie mean?

1. verbTo compete eagerly with others in order to win or achieve something.

Vie in a sentence

• Each year the two firms vie for the same lucrative contract.

• Every spring dozens of candidates vie for a single open position.

Where does vie come from?

Language of origin: French

The word comes from the French verb 'envier', which in gambling contexts meant 'to challenge' or 'to raise a stake', and which traces back to the Latin 'invitare', meaning 'to invite' or 'to summon'. English speakers in the sixteenth century clipped the longer borrowed form 'envie' down to the snappy 'vie', a term used at the card table when one player raised the bet to challenge another. From that competitive wagering sense it broadened to mean 'to contend' or 'to strive against a rival' in any contest, not just at cards. The same Latin 'invitare' also gave English the everyday word 'invite', so 'vie' and 'invitation' are distant cousins, both rooted in the idea of calling someone forward. The spelling trap is its sheer brevity: three letters where the long 'i' sound is carried by the single letter pairing 'ie' rather than the more expected 'y' or 'igh'.

How the word is built

• vie (shortened from earlier 'envie', a challenge or wager); single root, no affixes