VICARIOUS


Meaning of VICARIOUS in English

(ˈ)vī|ka(a)rēəs, -ker-, -kār- sometimes və̇ˈk- adjective

Etymology: Latin vicarius, from vicis change, alternation, stead + -arius -ary — more at week

1. : having the function of a substitute : serving instead of someone or something else : acting for a principal : representing or taking the place of something primary or original : delegated

memory is vicarious experience in which there is all the emotional value of actual experience — John Dewey

2. : performed or suffered by one person as a substitute for another or to the benefit or advantage of another : substitutionary

vicarious sacrifice

3. : experienced or realized through imaginative or sympathetic participation in the experience of another

was getting a vicarious kick out of watching a fellow female preening herself over the capitulation of the male — Helen Howe

4. : occurring in an unexpected or abnormal part of the body instead of the usual one

bleeding from the gums sometimes replaces the discharge from the uterus in vicarious menstruation

5.

a. : of, relating to, or being closely related kinds of organisms that occur in similar environments or as fossils in corresponding strata but in distinct and often widely separated areas

b. : made up of or characterized by the presence of such organisms

vicarious pairs

a vicarious area

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.