WordNet Dictionary- [n] a variable quantity that can be resolved into components
- [n] any agent (person or animal or microorganism) that carries and transmits a disease; "mosquitos are vectors of malaria and yellow fever"; "fleas are vectors of the plague"; "aphids are transmitters of plant diseases"
- [n] a straight line segment whose length is magnitude and whose orientation in space is direction
Webster's 1913 Dictionary\Vec"tor\, n. [L., a bearer, carrier. fr. vehere, vectum, to carry.] 1. Same as {Radius vector}. 2. (Math.) A directed quantity, as a straight line, a force, or a velocity. Vectors are said to be equal when their directions are the same their magnitudes equal. Cf. {Scalar}. Note: In a triangle, either side is the vector sum of the other two sides taken in proper order; the process finding the vector sum of two or more vectors is vector addition (see under {Addition}).
Computing Dictionary1. A member of a vector space.
2. A line or movement defined by its end points, or by the current position and one other point. See vector graphics.
3. A memory location containing the address of some code, often some kind of exception handler or other operating system service. By changing the vector to point to a different piece of code it is possible to modify the behaviour of the operating system.
Compare hook.
4. A one-dimensional array.
Biology Dictionary- An organism that spreads an infectious disease; often, this infectious host is not affected by the illness.
- A DNA molecule that replicates on its own in a host cell and can be used as a vehicle in the laboratory for replicating other types of DNA.
Glossary- An autonomously replicating DNA molecule into which foreign DNA fragments are inserted and then propagated in a host cell. Also living carriers of genetic material (such as pollen) from plant to plant, such as insects.