Question

vicissitude \vi-SIS-i-tood, -tyood\

Accepted Answer

noun1. A change or variation. The quality of being changeable; mutability.2. Often vicissitudes. One of the sudden or unexpected changes or shifts often encountered in one's life, activities, or surroundings.["Change is not made without inconvenience, even from worse to better," wrote British theologian Richard Hooker in the 16th century. That observation may shed some light on "vicissitude," a word that can refer simply to the fact of change, or to an instance of it, but that often refers specifically to hardship or difficulty brought about by change. To survive "the vicissitudes of life" is thus to survive life's ups and downs, with special emphasis on the downs. "Vicissitude" is a descendant of the Latin noun "vicis," meaning "change" or "alternation," and it has been a part of the English language since the 16th century. In contemporary usage, it most often occurs in the plural.Latin vicissitudo, from vicissim, in turn, probably from vices, pl. of *vix, change.]"In Jiang's speech, he noted, `People of my age have all experienced vicissitudes of the current century.'"

Noun 16th Century Survive Vicissitudes Latin Vi Sis I Tood Tyood