vicegerent

English

Etymology

From Latin vicegerens.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vaɪsˈd͡ʒɪəɹənt/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Noun

vicegerent (plural vicegerents)

1. The official administrative deputy of a ruler, head of state, or church official.
   • 1644, Samuel Rutherford, Lex Rex, or The Law and the Prince, 1846, The Presbyterian's Armoury, Volume 3, 211,

     But why are not the kings, even Nero, Julian, Nebuchadnezzar, and Belshazzar, vicegerents of Christ, as mediator, as priest, as redeemer, as prophet, as advocate, presenting our prayers to God his father?

   • 1876, The Month, volume 25, 139,

     In 1574, James, Cardinal Savelli, the Cardinal Vicar, a prelate most exact in sacred and ecclesiastical ceremonies, appointed him his suffragan, or as it would now be termed, Vicegerent.

   • 1944, Raphael Lemkin, Axis Rule in Occupied Europe, 2005 (with new introduction), The Lawbook Exchange, page 100,

     The Vicegerent was appointed by royal Italian decree of April 22, 1939. He represents in Albania the absent King and exercises in his name the rights of sovereignty.

   • 1994, Syed Nawab Haider Naqvi, Islam, Economics, and Society, 2013, Taylor & Francis Group (Routledge), page 25,

     By virtue of his freedom, man can either realize his theomorphic virtuality of being God's vicegerent on earth or deny himself this exalted niche by making the wrong choice.

Usage notes

Not to be confused with viceregent.

Related terms

• vicegerency
• vicegeral
• gerent

Adjective

vicegerent (not comparable)

1. Having or exercising delegated power; acting by substitution, or in the place of another.
   • 1674, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], 2nd edition, London: […] S[amuel] Simmons […], →OCLC, page 253:

     But whom ſend I to judge them? whom but thee / Vicegerent Son, to thee I have transferr'd / All Judgement whether in Heav'n, or Earth, or Hell

Anagrams

• viceregent