Etymograph

English

vicar

Vicar comes from Latin vicārius ‘vicarious, substitute’, from vicis ‘interchange, alternation’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyk- ‘to curve, bend’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyk-1‘to curve, bend’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvicis2‘interchange, alternation’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvicārius3‘vicarious, substitute’
  4. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400vikare3
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vicar3
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1907vicar3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin vicis
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin vicarius
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English vicar
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1907, Harold Bindloss, Toronto: “Hester Earle and Violet Wayne were moving about the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyk-Wiktionary, Latin vicis‘to curve, bend’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvicisWiktionary, Latin vicarius‘interchange, alternation’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvicāriusWiktionary, English vicar‘vicarious, substitute’
  4. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400vikareWiktionary, English vicar
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vicarWiktionary, English vicar
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1907vicarWiktionary, English vicar. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1907, Harold Bindloss, Toronto: “Hester Earle and Violet Wayne were moving about the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weyk- ‘to curve, bend’

province, victory, weakness, witch, convince, victim, iconic, icon, conviction, wicked, wo, victor, invincible, wight, weakly, convict, eviction, vanquish, wile, ancona, waw, evict, 32 more

Today it means

noun In the Church of England, the priest of a parish, receiving a salary or stipend but not tithes.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “vicar”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin vicis, Latin vicarius. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *weyk- / vicar

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