Vicar \Vic"ar\, n. [OE. vicar, viker, vicair, F. vicaire, fr. L. vicarius. See Vicarious.]

1. One deputed or authorized to perform the functions of another; a substitute in office; a deputy. [R.]

2. (Eng. Eccl. Law) The incumbent of an appropriated benefice.

Note: The distinction between a parson [or rector] and vicar is this: The parson 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, or Vicar apostolic. (R. C. Ch.)
   (a) A bishop to whom the Roman pontiff delegates a portion of his jurisdiction.
   (b) Any ecclesiastic acting under a papal brief, commissioned to exercise episcopal authority.
   (c) A titular bishop in a country where there is no episcopal see, or where the succession has been interrupted.

Vicar forane. [Cf. LL. foraneus situated outside of the episcopal city, rural. See Vicar, and Foreign.]

(R. C. Ch.) A dignitary or parish priest appointed by a bishop to exercise a limited jurisdiction in a particular town or district of a diocese. --Addis & Arnold.

Vicar-general.
   (a) (Ch. of Eng.) The deputy of the Archbishop of Canterbury or York, in whose court the bishops of the province are confirmed. --Encyc. Brit.
   (b) (R. C. Ch.) An assistant to a bishop in the discharge of his official functions.

Vicar of Jesus Christ (R. C. Ch.), the pope as representing Christ on earth.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)