English

Noun

vicissitude ‎(plural vicissitudes)

1. Regular change or succession from one thing to another, or one part of a cycle to the next; alternation; mutual succession; interchange.
2. (often in the plural) A change, especially in one's life or fortunes.
   • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, vii, 351,

     And God made.. the Stars, and set them in the firmament of Heaven to illuminate the Earth, and rule the day in their vicissitude...

   • 2003, "US redeployments afoot in Asia", Christian Science Monitor, Nov. 18, Pg. 6.,

     The vicissitudes of war in Iraq cast a dreary backdrop for Donald Rumsfeld's first visit to Asian military allies since he became US Defense Secretary in 2001.

   • Seneca

     Happy is the man who can endure the highest and lowest fortune. He who has endured such vicissitudes with equanimity has deprived misfortune of its power.

Synonyms

• ups and downs (informal)

Translations

References

1. ↑ “vicissitude” (US) / “vicissitude” (UK) in Oxford Dictionaries, Oxford University Press.

French

Noun

vicissitude f ‎(plural vicissitudes)

1. vicissitude

Portuguese

Noun

vicissitude f (plural vicissitudes)

1. vicissitude (regular change or succession from one thing to another)
2. an unfortunate occurrence

Synonyms

• (unfortunate occurrence): revés, infortúnio