Vie'ar, n.
n. [Fr. vicaire, Pr. vicari, Sp. & It. vicario, Pg. vigairo, Lat. vicarius. See VICARIOUS.]
Sense 1. One deputed or authorized to perform the functions of another; a substitute in office; a deputy. [Rare.]
Sense 2. (Eng. Eccl. Law.) The incumbent of an appropriated benefice.
☞ The distinction between a person and vicar is this: The person has, for the most part, the whole right to the ecclesiastical dues in his parish; but a vicar has generally an appropriator over him, entitled to the best part of the profits, to whom he is in fact perpetual curate with a standing salary. Burrill.
Apostolic vicar (Rom. Cath. Church), an officer of high standing who has received power from the pope to decide in certain cases without instructions.—Vicar-general (Eccl.), an officer inferior to a bishop, exercising jurisdiction over matters purely spiritual. This title was originally given by Henry VIII. to the Earl of Essex, with power to oversee all the clergy, and regulate all church affairs.