vicar

Etymology

From Middle English vicar, viker, vikyr, vicaire, vicare, a borrowing from Anglo-Norman vikare, vicare, vikaire, vikere and Old French vicaire (“deputy, second in command”), from Latin vicārius (“vicarious, substitute”).

noun

1. In the Church of England, the priest of a parish, receiving a salary or stipend but not tithes.
   Hester Earle and Violet Wayne were moving about the aisle with bundles of wheat-ears and streamers of ivy, for the harvest thanksgiving was shortly to be celebrated, while the vicar stood waiting for their directions on the chancel steps with a great handful of crimson gladioli. 1907, Harold Bindloss, chapter 20, in The Dust of Conflict
   For this [annual choir outing] the vicar traditionally hired a brake, an ancient, Edwardian, horse-drawn, bus-like vehicle which had plodded along for many years between Ramsgate and Pegwell Bay, carrying passengers who were in no hurry, until it became so unroadworthy that no horse could be persuaded to pull it on a regular basis. 1997, Frank Muir, chapter 1, in A Kentish Lad
2. In the Roman Catholic and some other churches, a cleric acting as local representative of a higher ranking member of the clergy.
3. A person acting on behalf of, or representing, another person.