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Vicissitude

Vicissitude is a noun that denotes a change of circumstances or fortune, often implying a turning point or alternation between opposite states. It can refer to variations in any domain—personal life, social conditions, political events, or natural processes—and is frequently used in discussions of fortune or fate. The sense emphasizes irregularity or unpredictability rather than a steady progression.

The word comes from French vicissitude, via Latin vicissitudo from vicis meaning change or alternation. It

In literature and philosophy, vicissitude often frames the human condition as subject to fortune’s shifts: prosperity

See also: fluctuation, variation, reversals, mutability, contingency.

entered
English
in
the
early
modern
period,
carrying
a
formal,
sometimes
literary
tone.
The
plural
vicissitudes
is
commonly
used
to
highlight
a
range
of
changes
experienced
over
time.
can
give
way
to
hardship,
status
can
rise
and
fall,
and
eras
can
surge
and
decline.
The
phrase
the
vicissitudes
of
life
is
a
familiar
idiom.
In
scholarly
contexts,
it
may
be
discussed
alongside
ideas
of
contingency,
resilience,
and
the
limits
of
constancy.