vicissitude

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

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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.

Origin of vicissitude

1560–70; < Latin vicissitūdō, equivalent to viciss(im) in turn (perhaps by syncope < *vice-cessim; vice in the place of (see vice³) + cessim giving way, adv. derivative of cēdere to go, proceed) + -i- -i- -tūdō -tude

Related formsvi·cis·si·tu·di·nous, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for vicissitudes

fluctuation, permutation, revolution, diversity, progression, variety, shift, uncertainty, novelty, alteration, variation, switch, turnaround, mutation, reversal, innovation, flip-flop, sport, about-face, alternation

Examples from the Web for vicissitudes

Contemporary Examples of vicissitudes

Art must be used in service of the people—and is always subject to the vicissitudes of the party line.
The Death of 'Stalin's Songbird'
Michael Moynihan
January 29, 2014
One by one, nine men, all military veterans, updated the judge on the vicissitudes of their week.
From PTSD to Prison: Why Veterans Become Criminals
Matthew Wolfe
July 28, 2013
But no matter what the vicissitudes of life, I am still glad that I came of age in Boston, and that it taught me what it did.
Whoever Did This Does Not Understand Boston
Pranay Gupte
April 17, 2013

Historical Examples of vicissitudes

Both will afford me encouragement and support in the vicissitudes which yet await me.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327
Various
The following cheap and valuable composition will preserve all sorts of wood work exposed to the vicissitudes of the weather.
The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches,
Mary Eaton
These laws have had their vicissitudes, and are not yet free from complications.
Prairie Farmer, Vol. 56: No. 4, January 26, 1884
Various
The European governments have undergone the vicissitudes of fortune.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine -- Volume 57, No. 351, January 1845
Various
Since then my life has been passed in all the vicissitudes of war and peace.
The Confessions of Harry Lorrequer, Complete
Charles James Lever (1806-1872)

British Dictionary definitions for vicissitudes

vicissitude

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 Formsvicissitudinary 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

Word Origin and History for vicissitudes

vicissitude

1560s, from Middle French vicissitude (14c.), from Latin vicissitudinem (nominative vicissitudo) "change," from vicissim "changeably, in turn," from vicis "a turn, change" (see vicarious). Related: Vicissitudes.