In English law . He that has full possession of a parochial church. A rector (or parson) has, for the most part, the whole right to all the ecclesiastical dues in his parish; while a vicar has an appropri- ator over him, entitled to the best part of the profits, to whom the vicar is, in effect, perpetual curate, with a standing salary. 1 Bl. Comm. 384, 388. See Bird v. St. Mark’s Church, 62 Iowa, 567, 17 N. W. 747.
Black’s Law Online Dictionary
