Vicissitude

Pronunciation

• IPA: vɨˈsɪsɨˌtu(ː)d
• Hyphenation: vi + cis + si + tude

Origin

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").

Full definition of vicissitude

Noun

1. Regular change or succession from one thing to another, or one part of a cycle to the next; alternation; mutual succession; interchange.
2. (often in the plural) a change, especially in one's life or fortunes.
• 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, vii, 351,And God made.. the Stars, and set them in the firmament of Heaven to illuminate the Earth, and rule the day in their vicissitude...
• 2003, "US redeployments afoot in Asia", Christian Science Monitor, Nov. 18, Pg. 6.,The vicissitudes of war in Iraq cast a dreary backdrop for Donald Rumsfeld's first visit to Asian military allies since he became US Defense Secretary in 2001.
• SenecaHappy is the man who can endure the highest and lowest fortune. He who has endured such vicissitudes with equanimity has deprived misfortune of its power.

Synonyms

• ups and downs informal