vicissitude

[ vi-sis-i-tood, -tyood ]

/ vɪˈsɪs ɪˌtud, -ˌtyud /

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See synonyms for: vicissitude / vicissitudes on Thesaurus.com

noun

a change or variation occurring in the course of something.

interchange or alternation, as of states or things.

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.

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

change; mutation; mutability.

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Origin of vicissitude

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

Words nearby vicissitude

vicinage, vicinal, vicinity, vicious, vicious circle, vicissitude, Vick, Vickers, Vickers number, Vicksburg, Vicky

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use vicissitude in a sentence

Whoever has this knowledge can place in a wider framework the terrible vicissitudes of the present, giving sense to suffering, helping us to overcome even the most terrible tragedies.
Our Most Effective Weapon Is Imagination - Issue 99: Universality|Guido Tonelli|April 29, 2021|Nautilus
As one wise woman, who has lived through many a cultural and social vicissitude, said of the good old days, circa 1995.
Way Too Cute|Nicole LaPorte|May 6, 2010|DAILY BEAST
The writer of these lines confesses to an affection for Washington, which no vicissitude of life or time can alienate.
The Old Pike|Thomas B. Searight
Such is the vicissitude of human affairs, that within a few years many strange mutations occur, even in places of no great extent.
Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. I|Francis Augustus Cox

Arsne Lupin was present at certain family conferences when this new vicissitude was discussed.
The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsene Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar|Maurice Leblanc
It is kept in good repair through every vicissitude of rule, for it is a holy place to Moslem and Jew and Christian alike.
War in the Garden of Eden|Kermit Roosevelt
When by vicissitude of season the seaward species are poor in volatile oil, then the scrub is rich, and vice vers.
Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 696|Various

British Dictionary definitions for vicissitude

vicissitude

/ (vɪˈsɪsɪˌtjuːd) /

noun

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

a variation in circumstance, fortune, character, etc

Derived forms of vicissitude

vicissitudinary or vicissitudinous, adjective

Word Origin for vicissitude

C16: from Latin vicissitūdō, from vicis change, alternation

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

vicissitude

Origin of vicissitude

OTHER WORDS FROM vicissitude

Words nearby vicissitude

Words related to vicissitude

How to use vicissitude in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for vicissitude

Derived forms of vicissitude

Word Origin for vicissitude