Etymologically
Log in

vicarius

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 23:54. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [wɪˈkaː.ri.ʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [viˈkaː.ri.us][1]

Forms

vicārius (feminine vicāria, neuter vicārium); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin vicis (“turn, change, place”) + -ārius.[2][3] Etymonline traces vicis to Proto-Indo-European *weik- (“to bend, wind”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus, in the Stichus, speaks of a substitute for a word and of a deputy.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[3]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it meant taking the place of someone or something, substitute, vicarious, as Cicero speaks of the vicarious good faith of friends.[2][5] Hyginus and Seneca the Elder use it of death suffered in place of another.[6] As a noun it was a substitute or deputy, a soldier serving in another's place, and specially an under-slave bought by another slave, as in Horace.[2][7] In the Theodosian Code it was the deputy of the praetorian prefect.[7]

In medieval Latin it was used of Christ as God's representative, of the pope as the vicar of Christ and successor of Saint Peter, of a papal legate, and in the Church of a vicar.[8][1] Its descendants include French vicaire, French viguier and Spanish veguer.[1] English vicar is recorded around 1300, and English vicarious in the 1630s.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a substitute.[2][3]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of vicarious good faith.[5][3]
  • 538/539–594 AD – Gregory of Tours uses it.[3]
  • c. 1300 – English vicar is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Taking another's place, substitute, vicarious.[2][1]

Noun

  1. A substitute, deputy, proxy.[2][1]
  2. An under-slave owned by another slave.[2][7]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A vicar.[1][8]
  • vicāriānus
  • vicāriātus
  • vicāriālis
  • vicis
  • English vicar
  • English vicarious

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill