sb. and a. [ad. L. vīcēnāri-us, f. vīcēnī, distrib. f. vīgintī twenty.]
† a. sb. One who has command over twenty persons. Obs.
1603. Harsnet, Pop. Impost., 49. Delicat, another Captaine, or vicenarie in Sara, hauing vnder him twenty assistants.
b. adj. ‘Belonging to twenty’ (Bailey, 1727); based on the number twenty. Cf. VIGENARY a.
1826. Peacock, in Encycl. Metrop. (1845), I. 371/1. Such a practice would naturally lead to the formation of a vicenary scale of numeration.
1834. Penny Cycl., II. 337/2. In France the scale from 60 to 100 is strictly vicenary (by twenties).
