vicissity
[vɪˈsɪs.ɨˌti]
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
4
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "While to your ears, a father does unfold / The various scenes by turns which checquer'd o'er / My life, vicissities of bliss and woe. / When our offended Maker deem'd to cheer / Offending man, with promises of love, / And reconciling mercy, tell me, Eve, / Associate dear, in fortune's every change, / …"
- "It is well enough known that species of the lower forms of plant life, such as ferns and mosses amid the vicissities of change of situation, have spread over both hemispheres without such a departure from the central type as would constitute a distinct species; but is this true as regards higher forms, such as cycads and conifers?"
- "Thomas Jefferson Gentry, an aspiring young lawyer, becomes a protege of Tammany, experiences all the vicissities of politics, and throws himself upon the mercies of Peggy McShane, a blue-eyed Irish lass, who heroically accepts him."
- "Seeing things thus will have their course, their appointed changes and vicissities, no contrivance or labor of men can prevent it."
Etymology
From viciss(itous) + -ity, from Latin vicissitas. Mentioned since at least 1717, in Elisha Coles's An English Dictionary.
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: vicissitas
- Suffix: vicissitous
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: [vɪˈsɪs.ɨˌti]
- British English: [vɪˈsɪs.ɨˌti]