Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
Browse Nearby Entries
vicissitude
5 dictionary results for: Vicissitude
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
vi·cis·si·tude       [vi-sis-i-tood, -tyood] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.a change or variation occurring in the course of something.
2.interchange or alternation, as of states or things.
3.vicissitudes, successive, alternating, or changing phases or conditions, as of life or fortune; ups and downs: They remained friends through the vicissitudes of 40 years.
4.regular change or succession of one state or thing to another.
5.change; mutation; mutability.
[Origin: 1560–70; < L vicissitūdō, equiv. to viciss(im) in turn (perh. by syncope < *vice-cessim; vice in the place of (see vice3) + cessim giving way, adv. deriv. of cédere to go, proceed) + -i- -i- -tūdō -tude]

—Related forms
vi·cis·si·tu·di·nous, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
vi·cis·si·tude       (vĭ-sĭs'ĭ-tōōd', -tyōōd')  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
    1. A change or variation.
    2. The quality of being changeable; mutability.
  2. One of the sudden or unexpected changes or shifts often encountered in one's life, activities, or surroundings. Often used in the plural. See Synonyms at difficulty.


[Latin vicissitūdō, from vicissim, in turn, probably from vicēs, pl. of *vix, change; see weik-2 in Indo-European roots.]

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
vicissitude 
1570, from M.Fr. vicissitude (14c.), from L. vicissitudinem (nom. vicissitudo) "change," from vicissim "changeably, in turn," from vicis "a turn, change" (see vicarious).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
vicissitude

noun
1. a variation in circumstances or fortune at different times in your life or in the development of something; "the project was subject to the usual vicissitudes of exploratory research" 
2. mutability in life or nature (especially successive alternation from one condition to another) 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Vicissitude

Vi*cis"si*tude\, n. [L. vicissitudo, fr. vicis change, turn: cf. F. vicissitude. See Vicarious.]

1. Regular change or succession from one thing to another; alternation; mutual succession; interchange.

God made two great lights . . . To illuminate the earth and rule the day In their vicissitude, and rule the night. --Milton.

2. Irregular change; revolution; mutation.

This man had, after many vicissitudes of fortune, sunk at last into abject and hopeless poverty. --Macaulay.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
Share This:Share This: digg.comShare This: ma.gnolia.comShare This: www.stumbleupon.comShare This: del.icio.usShare This: FacebookShare This: favorites.live.comShare This: www.technorati.comShare This: furl.netShare This: myweb2.search.yahoo.comShare This: www.google.com