Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Vicarious"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Vicarious \Vi*ca"ri*ous\, a. [L. vicarius, from vicis change,
alternation, turn, the position, place, or office of one
person as assumed by another; akin to Gr. ? 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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
vicarious
adj 1: experienced at secondhand; "read about mountain climbing and
felt vicarious excitement"
2: (medicine) occurring in an abnormal part of the body instead
of the usual site involved in that function; "vicarious
menstruation"
3: suffered or done by one person as a substitute for another;
"vicarious atonement"
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