vector

What it means

1. mathematicsA directed quantity, one with both magnitude and direction; the signed difference between two points.

   Velocity is a vector defined by the speed of an object and its direction.

   1 more example

   As examples of vector quantities may be mentioned the distance between any two given points, a velocity, a force, an acceleration, angular velocity, intensity of magnetization flux of heat.

   1914, The New Student's Reference Work

   1. mathematicsAny member of a (generalized) vector space.

      The vectors in #123;#92;mathbbQ#125;#91;X#93; are the single-variable polynomials with rational coefficients: one is #92;textstylex#123;42#125;#43;#92;frac1#123;137#125;x-1.

   2. computingAn ordered tuple, originally one representing a directed quantity, but by extension any one-dimensional matrix.

      Computers store many types of data as vectors for ease of processing.

      3 more examples

      A row vector is a matrix whose M dimension is 1. In fact, a row vector is a matrix consisting of a single row, and a column vector a matrix consisting of a single column.

      2003 February 26, Julio Sanchez, Maria P. Canton, The PC Graphics Handbook, CRC Press, →ISBN, page 62

      Color is stored as a vector attribute (R, G, B).

      2011 March 8, Lee Lanier, Advanced Maya Texturing and Lighting, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 97

      GPU cores are essentially vector-processing units, capable of applying the same instruction on a large collection of operands.

      2022 February 9, Gerassimos Barlas, Multicore and GPU Programming: An Integrated Approach, Morgan Kaufmann, →ISBN, page 398

In a sentence

Velocity is a vector defined by the speed of an object and its direction.

Where it comes from

1. Proto-Indo-European*weǵʰ-
2. Proto-Indo-European*wéǵʰeti
3. Proto-Italic*weɣō
4. Latinvehō
5. Latinvector
6. Englishvector

Learned borrowing from Latin vector (“carrier, transporter”), from vehō (“to carry, transport, bear”), also ultimately the root of English vehicle. The “person or entity that passes along an urban legend or other meme” sense derives from the disease sense. The mathematics sense was coined by Irish mathematician and astronomer William Rowan Hamilton in 1846.