vicarious
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English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Latin vicārius (“vicarious, substituted”), 17th century.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /vɪˈkɛəɹi.əs/
- (General American, without the Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA(key): /vaɪˈkɛəɹi.əs/, /vəˈkɛəɹi.əs/
- (General American, Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA(key): /vaɪˈkɛɹi.əs/, /vəˈkɛɹi.əs/
Audio (US): (file) Audio (General Australian): (file) - Rhymes: -ɛəɹiəs
Adjective
[edit]vicarious (not comparable)
- Delegated.
- Experienced or gained by taking in another person’s experience rather than through first-hand experience, such as through watching or reading.
- People experience vicarious pleasures through watching television.
- 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson, chapter 10, in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde:
- The pleasures which I made haste to seek in my disguise were, as I have said, undignified; I would scarce use a harder term. But in the hands of Edward Hyde, they soon began to turn toward the monstrous. When I would come back from these excursions, I was often plunged into a kind of wonder at my vicarious depravity.
- On behalf of others.
- The concept of vicarious atonement, that one person can atone for the sins of another, is found in many religions.
- 1900, James Frazer, chapter 26, in The Golden Bough:
- As time went on, the cruel custom was so far mitigated that a ram was accepted as a vicarious sacrifice in room of the royal victim.
- 1920, H. Rider Haggard, chapter III, in The Blue Curtains:
- In these, however, he had not much time to indulge, for a footman, still decked in the trappings of vicarious grief, opened the door with the most startling promptitude, and he was ushered upstairs into a small but richly furnished room.
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]delegated
|
experienced or gained by the loss or to the consequence of another
|
on behalf of others
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
References
[edit]- “vicarious”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 4-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
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- Rhymes:English/ɛəɹiəs
- Rhymes:English/ɛəɹiəs/4 syllables
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
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