Vicary

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Vicary is a family name of English origin, borne by people with ancestry tracing back to a medieval church official
2. A surname of English origin, most often given to people whose forebears served as a vicar or parish clergyman
3. Used as a family name in England, Vicary is a surname that descends from the old office of parish vicar

Etymology: The English word "vicary" comes from Latin "vicarius", which meant a substitute or deputy, someone who stood in for another person. The Latin root is "vicis", "change" or "turn", so a vicar was literally one who took another's turn or place. Church usage gave the Latin term its best-known sense: a priest who acts in place of a parish's rector, and in English "vicary" carries that same idea of a deputy standing in for a superior.