资料来源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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.

资料来源 : WordNet®

vicar apostolic
     n : a titular Roman Catholic bishop in a non-Catholic area