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vicarious - 7 dictionary results

vi⋅car⋅i⋅ous

   [vahy-kair-ee-uhs, vi-]
–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 vice 3 ), + -ārius -ary; see -ous
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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vi·car·i·ous     (vī-kâr'ē-əs, -kār'-, vĭ-)  Pronunciation Key 
adj.  
  1. Felt or undergone as if one were taking part in the experience or feelings of another: read about mountain climbing and experienced vicarious thrills.
  2. 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.
  4. 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.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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").

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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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" 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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vicarious vi·car·i·ous (vī-kâr'ē-əs, -kār'-, vĭ-)
adj.

  1. Felt or undergone as if one were taking part in the experience or feelings of another.
  2. Occurring in or performed by a part of the body not normally associated with a certain function.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Main Entry: vi·car·i·ous
Pronunciation: vI-'kar-E-&s
Function: adjective
: imposed on one person in place of another —see also vicarious liability at LIABILITY 2b —vi·car·i·ous·ly adverb —vi·car·i·ous·ness noun

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Vicarious

Vi*ca"ri*ous\, a. [L. vicarius, from vicis change, alternation, turn, the position, place, or office of one person as assumed by another; akin to Gr. ? to yield, give way, G. wechsel a change, and probably also to E. weak. See Weak, and cf. Vice, prep.]

1. Of or pertaining to a vicar, substitute, or deputy; deputed; delegated; as, vicarious power or authority.

2. Acting of suffering for another; as, a vicarious agent or officer.

The soul in the body is but a subordinate efficient, and vicarious . . . in the hands of the Almighty. --Sir M. Hale.

3. Performed of suffered in the place of another; substituted; as, a vicarious sacrifice; vicarious punishment.

The vicarious work of the Great Deliverer. --I. Taylor.

4. (Med.) Acting as a substitute; -- said of abnormal action which replaces a suppressed normal function; as, vicarious hemorrhage replacing menstruation.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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