vicissitude

[ vi-sis-i-tood, -tyood ]
See synonyms for: vicissitudevicissitudes on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a change or variation occurring in the course of something.

  2. interchange or alternation, as of states or things.

  1. vicissitudes, successive, alternating, or changing phases or conditions, as of life or fortune; ups and downs: They remained friends through the vicissitudes of 40 years.

  2. regular change or succession of one state or thing to another.

Origin of vicissitude

1
First recorded in 1560–70; from Middle French, from Latin vicissitūdō, equivalent to viciss(im) “in turn” (perhaps by syncope, from unrecorded vice-cessim; vice “in the place of” + cessim “giving way,“ adverbial derivative of cēdere “to go, proceed”) + -i- -i- + -tūdō -tude;see also vice3

Other words from vicissitude

  • vi·cis·si·tu·di·nous, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use vicissitude in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for vicissitude

vicissitude

/ (vɪˈsɪsɪˌtjuːd) /


noun
  1. variation or mutability in nature or life, esp successive alternation from one condition or thing to another

  2. a variation in circumstance, fortune, character, etc

Origin of vicissitude

1
C16: from Latin vicissitūdō, from vicis change, alternation

Derived forms of vicissitude

  • vicissitudinary or vicissitudinous, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012