ˈvikə(r) noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English vicar, vicair, viker, from Late Latin vicarius, from Latin, substitute, deputy, from vicarius, adjective, substituting, delegated, vicarious — more at vicarious
1. : a human representative or agent of God on earth
those who regard the pope as being God's vicar
2.
a. : the incumbent of an impropriated or formerly appropriated benefice of the Church of England : the priest of a parish of which the tithes are owned by a layman or formerly a spiritual corporation : an incumbent of a Church of England parish not a rector
b. : a Protestant Episcopal clergyman in charge of a dependent chapel as the deputy of another clergyman
c. : an ecclesiastic who acts as the substitute or representative of another in the Roman Catholic Church
3.
a. : an administrative deputy : vicegerent
b. : someone or something that serves as a substitute
there is no vicar for poetry on earth — R.P.Blackmur