vicar

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈvɪkɚ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English vicar, earlier viicare,^[2] borrowed from Anglo-Norman vikere, Old French vicaire “deputy”,^{[3][2][4][5][6]} from Latin vicārius (“a substitute, deputy”),^{[3][2][4][5][6]} a noun use of the adjective vicārius “substituted” (see vicarious),^[2][4][5] from vicis “change, turn, place”.^[3][4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

An earthly representative of God or Christ (before 1300);^[7][2][8] applied specifically to the Pope from 1340.^[7][2]

Semantic evolution

The vicar was originally one who stood in for another.^[8] By about 1325 the word meant a priest acting in a parish in place of the parson or rector,^[7][2][4] and then the priest of a parish whose tithes went to a monastery or other body, which paid him a stipend as its representative, as opposed to a rector, who kept the tithes.^[8][6][7] It is also used of a cleric acting for a bishop and, in the Episcopal Church, one in charge of a chapel or mission.^[3][5][9] The proverbial Vicar of Bray (1660s), one who changes his principles to suit the times, is said to be a 16th-century vicar of Bray in Berkshire who held the post from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I, twice a Catholic and twice a Protestant.^[4][7]

Timeline

• before 1300 – a representative of God or Christ.^[7][2]
• c. 1325 – a priest acting in place of the parson.^[7][2]
• 1340 – the Pope as Vicar of Christ.^[7][2]
• 1425 – vicarage.^[2]
• before 1661 – Vicar of Bray.^[7][4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. In the Church of England, the priest of a parish who receives a stipend or salary but not the tithes.
2. In the Episcopal Church, a cleric in charge of a chapel or mission.
3. In the Roman Catholic and some other churches, a cleric acting as the representative of a higher-ranking one, such as a bishop.
4. One who acts as a substitute or agent for another.

Word family

• vicarship
• subvicar
• undervicar
• vicarage
• vicarial
• vicarly
• vicar-general
• lay vicar

Related words

• vicarate
• vicariate
• vicarious
• vice
• vicissitude
• weak

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
3. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House