Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Vicarious

Vi·ca′ri·ous (·ŭs), a. [L. vicarius, from vicis change, alternation, turn, the position, place, or office of one person as assumed by another; akin to Gr. εἴκειν to yield, give way, G. wechsel a change, and probably also to E. weak. See Weak, and cf. Vice, prep.] 1. Of or pertaining to a vicar, substitute, or deputy; deputed; delegated; as, vicarious power or authority.

2. Acting of suffering for another; as, a vicarious agent or officer.

The soul in the body is but a subordinate efficient, and vicarious . . . in the hands of the Almighty. Sir M. Hale.

3. Performed of suffered in the place of another; substituted; as, a vicarious sacrifice; vicarious punishment.

The vicarious work of the Great Deliverer. I. Taylor.

4. (Med.) Acting as a substitute; — said of abnormal action which replaces a suppressed normal function; as, vicarious hemorrhage replacing menstruation.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.