vicar

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
vicar/ˈvɪkə(r)/

▶noun

• 1 (in the Church of England) an incumbent of a parish where tithes formerly passed to a chapter or religious house or layman.

  ■ (in other Anglican Churches) a member of the clergy deputizing for another.

  ■ (in the Roman Catholic Church) a representative or deputy of a bishop.

  ■ (in the US Episcopal Church) a clergyman in charge of a chapel.

• 2 a cleric or choir member appointed to sing certain parts of a cathedral service.

– derivatives
vicarship noun.

– origin ME: via Anglo-Norman Fr. from OFr. vicaire, from L. vicarius ‘substitute’, from vic- ‘change, place’ (cf. vice3).