Etymograph

English

vicarious

Vicarious comes from Latin vicārius ‘vicarious, substituted’, from vicis ‘change’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyk- ‘to sift, separate’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyk-1‘to sift, separate’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvicis1‘change’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvicārius1‘vicarious, substituted’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1886vicarious1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English vicarious
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson: “The pleasures which I made haste to seek in…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyk-Wiktionary, English vicarious‘to sift, separate’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvicisWiktionary, English vicarious‘change’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvicāriusWiktionary, English vicarious‘vicarious, substituted’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1886vicariousWiktionary, English vicarious. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson: “The pleasures which I made haste to seek in…”

first attested First attested in the 17th century (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested in the 17th century.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weyk- ‘to sift, separate’

victory, province, victim, weakness, witch, convince, icon, victor, wicked, wo, conviction, invincible, wight, convict, weakly, eviction, vanquish, wile, evict, ancona, waw, 33 more

Today it means

adj Delegated.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “vicarious”. 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- / vicarious

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