vicissitude

American  

[vi-sis-i-tood, -tyood] / vɪˈsɪs ɪˌtud, -ˌtyud /

noun

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

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

3. 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.

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

5. change; mutation; mutability.

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vicissitude British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• vicissitudinous
  adjective
• vicissitudinary
  adjective

Etymology

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 vice ³

Explanation

When you talk of the vicissitudes of life, you're referring to the difficult times that we all go through: sickness, job loss, and other unwelcome episodes. No one can escape the vicissitudes of life. While vicissitude comes from the Latin vicis, which means "change" and technically can mean a change of any kind, you'll find that vicissitude is almost always used to talk about an unfortunate event or circumstance. Losing a pet, crashing the car, being called in for jury duty: these are examples of vicissitudes — chapters in one's life that one would rather avoid but must get through. Some lives have more vicissitudes than others, to be sure, but no life is without events that test and challenge us.

Example Sentences

Vicissitude had forced each into a like position, and somehow Frederick lost his sense of right and wrong, for he could not sit in judgment upon either action.

From Tess of the Storm Country by White, Grace Miller

Perhaps he was very glad of this Excuse for not returning, because he had once experienc'd the Vicissitude of Fortune, and knew well that he had been too powerful a Man not to be hated.

From The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume I Being the Observations He Made in His Late Travels from Prussia thro' Germany, Italy, France, Flanders, Holland, England, &C. in Letters to His Friend. Discovering Not Only the Present State of the Chief Cities and Towns; but the Characters of the Principal Persons at the Several Courts. by P?llnitz, Karl Ludwig von

Vicissitude is sharp, sudden, or violent change, always thought of as surprising and often as disturbing or distressing; as, the vicissitudes of politics.

From English Synonyms and Antonyms With Notes on the Correct Use of Prepositions by Fernald, James Champlin

They take their Turns with so quick a Vicissitude, that neither becomes a Habit, or takes Possession of the whole Man; nor is it possible he should be surfeited with either.

From The Spectator, Volume 2. by Addison, Joseph

Another Frenchman, the classical scholar, Louis Le Roy, translator of Plato and Aristotle, put forward similar views in a work of less celebrity, On the Vicissitude or Variety of the Things in the Universe.

From The Idea of Progress An inguiry into its origin and growth by Bury, J. B. (John Bagnell)

Related Words

• fluctuation
• permutation