Vicissitude definition

vĭ-sĭsĭ-to͝od, -tyo͝od
vicissitudes
See word origin
Frequency:
Vicissitude is an unpredictable change in your luck or circumstances.

An example of vicissitude is when you have a great job but then you lose your great job.

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The quality of being changeable; mutability.

The vicissitude of fortune.

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A change or variation.

An economy vulnerable to the vicissitudes of the oil market.

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A usually unforeseen change in circumstance or experience that affects one's life, especially in a trying way.

The vicissitudes of childhood.

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Unpredictable changes or variations that keep occurring in life, fortune, etc.; shifting circumstances; ups and downs.
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Regular change or succession from one thing to another, or one part of a cycle to the next; alternation; mutual succession; interchange.
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(often in the plural) A change, especially in one's life or fortunes.
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A difficulty that is likely to occur, esp. one that is inherent in a situation.
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A condition of constant change or alternation, as a natural process; mutability.

The vicissitude of the sea.

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Regular succession or alternation, as of night and day.
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Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
vicissitude
Plural:
vicissitudes

Origin of vicissitude

  • Latin vicissitūdō from vicissim in turn probably from vicēs pl. of vix change weik-2 in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Latin vicissitudo (“change"), from vicissim (“on the other hand, in turn"), from vicis (“change, vicissitude"), whence Spanish vez and French fois (“time (as in next time), occurrence").

    From Wiktionary