In the broaest sense, a vicar (from the Latin vicarius) is anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious"). In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant. Usually the title appears in a number of Christian ecclesiastical contexts, but in the Holy Roman Empire a local representative of the emperor, perhaps an archduke, might be styled "vicar". "Representative" is the best definition of this word. Linguistically, it is related to the Persian word vezir.