Vicarious - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

vi·car·i·ous

Audio Help [vahy-kair-ee-uh

s, vi-] Pronunciation Key

–adjective

1.	performed, exercised, received, or suffered in place of another: vicarious punishment.

2.	taking the place of another person or thing; acting or serving as a substitute.

3.	felt or enjoyed through imagined participation in the experience of others: a vicarious thrill.

4.	Physiology. noting or pertaining to a situation in which one organ performs part of the functions normally performed by another.

[Origin: 1630–40; < L vicārius substituting, equiv. to vic(is) (gen.) interchange, alternation (see vice³), + -ārius -ary; see -ous

]

—Related forms

vi·car·i·ous·ly, adverb

vi·car·i·ous·ness, vi·car·i·ism, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Vicarious

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

vi·car·i·ous Audio Help (vī-kâr'ē-əs, -kār'-, vĭ-) Pronunciation Key
adj.

Felt or undergone as if one were taking part in the experience or feelings of another: read about mountain climbing and experienced vicarious thrills.
Endured or done by one person substituting for another: vicarious punishment.
1. Acting or serving in place of someone or something else; substituted.
2. Committed or entrusted to another, as powers or authority; delegated.
Physiology Occurring in or performed by a part of the body not normally associated with a certain function.

[From Latin vicārius; see vicar.]

vi·car'i·ous·ly adv., vi·car'i·ous·ness n.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
vicarious

1637, from L. vicarius "substitute, deputy" (adj. and n.), from vicis "turn, change, exchange, substitution," from PIE base *weik-, *weig- "to bend, wind" (cf. Skt. visti "changing, changeable;" O.E. wician "to give way, yield," wice "wych elm;" O.N. vikja "to bend, turn;" Swed. viker "willow twig, wand;" Ger. wechsel "change").

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

vicarious
adjective
1.	experienced at secondhand; "read about mountain climbing and felt vicarious excitement"
2.	occurring in an abnormal part of the body instead of the usual site involved in that function; "vicarious menstruation"
3.	suffered or done by one person as a substitute for another; "vicarious atonement"

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Vicarious

Vic"ar\, n. [OE. vicar, viker, vicair, F. vicaire, fr. L. vicarius. See Vicarious.]

1. One deputed or authorized to perform the functions of another; a substitute in office; a deputy. [R.]

2. (Eng. Eccl. Law) The incumbent of an appropriated benefice.

Note: The distinction between a parson [or rector] and vicar is this: The parson has, for the most part, the whole right to the ecclesiastical dues in his parish; but a vicar has generally an appropriator over him, entitled to the best part of the profits, to whom he is in fact perpetual curate with a standing salary. --Burrill.

Apostolic vicar, or Vicar apostolic. (R. C. Ch.) (a) A bishop to whom the Roman pontiff delegates a portion of his jurisdiction. (b) Any ecclesiastic acting under a papal brief, commissioned to exercise episcopal authority. (c) A titular bishop in a country where there is no episcopal see, or where the succession has been interrupted.

Vicar forane. [Cf. LL. foraneus situated outside of the episcopal city, rural. See Vicar, and Foreign.] (R. C. Ch.) A dignitary or parish priest appointed by a bishop to exercise a limited jurisdiction in a particular town or district of a diocese. --Addis & Arnold.

Vicar-general. (a) (Ch. of Eng.) The deputy of the Archbishop of Canterbury or York, in whose court the bishops of the province are confirmed. --Encyc. Brit. (b) (R. C. Ch.) An assistant to a bishop in the discharge of his official functions.

Vicar of Jesus Christ (R. C. Ch.), the pope as representing Christ on earth.

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