vector

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WOTD – 3 June 2006

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Vector

Wikipedia

From Latin vector (“carrier”), from vehō (“I carry, I bear”).

The "person or entity that passes along an urban legend or other meme" sense derives from the disease sense.

vector (plural vectors)

(mathematics) A directed quantity, one with both magnitude and direction; the signed difference between two points.
- 1914, The New Student's Reference Work:
  
  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.
(mathematics) An ordered tuple representing a directed quantity or the signed difference between two points.
(mathematics) Any member of a (generalized) vector space.

The vectors in ${\mathbb Q}[X]$ are the single-variable polynomials with rational coefficients: one is $x^{42}+\frac1{137}x-1$ .
(aviation) A chosen course or direction for motion, as of an aircraft.
(epidemiology) A carrier of a disease-causing agent.
(sociology) A person or entity that passes along an urban legend or other meme.
(psychology) A recurring psychosocial issue that stimulates growth and development in the personality.
The way in which the eyes are drawn across the visual text. The trail that a book cover can encourage the eyes to follow from certain objects to others.
(computing, operating systems) A memory address containing the address of a code entry point, usually one which is part of a table and often one that is dereferenced and jumped to during the execution of an interrupt.
(programming) A one-dimensional array.

(programming): The term vector is used loosely when the indices are not (either positive or non-negative) integers.

directed quantity

chosen course or direction for motion

carrier of a disease-causing agent

person or entity that passes along an urban legend or other meme

way in which the eyes are drawn across the visual text

memory address containing the address of a code entry point

data structure consisting of a series of contiguous storage locations which are accessed via an integer offset

programming: one-dimensional array

vector (third-person singular simple present vectors, present participle vectoring, simple past and past participle vectored)

To set (particularly an aircraft) on a course toward a selected point.
- 1994, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Tendencies
  
  […] if love is vectored toward an object and Elinor's here flies toward Marianne, Marianne's in turn toward Willoughby.

to set (particularly an aircraft) on a course toward a selected point