vector

English

WOTD – 3 June 2006

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ-

Proto-Indo-European *-eti

Proto-Indo-European *wéǵʰeti

Proto-Italic *weɣō

Latin vehō

Proto-Indo-European *-tōr

Proto-Italic *-tōr

Latin -tor

Latin vectorlbor.

English vector

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.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: vec‧tor
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈvɛktə/
• (US) enPR: vĕk'tər, IPA^(key): /ˈvɛktɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (Australia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛktə(ɹ)

Noun

vector (plural vectors)

2. (mathematics, physics) A directed quantity, one with both magnitude and direction; the signed difference between two points.

   Coordinate term: rotor

   Hypernym: tensor

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

   • 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.

   1. (mathematics) Any member of a (generalized) vector space.

      The vectors in $\mathbb{Q}[X]$ are the single-variable polynomials with rational coefficients: one is $x^{42}+\frac{1}{137}x-1$.

   2. (physics) A physical quantity with a coordinate-independent magnitude but a spatial direction dependent on the observer's orientation.

      electric field is a vector quantity because if its physical strength is exactly $5N/C$, its measured values might be $+5N/C$ or $-5N/C$ depending on if the field at that point is exerting force towards or away from the observer.

   3. (mathematics, computing) An ordered tuple, originally one representing a directed quantity, but by extension any one-dimensional matrix.

      Hypernym: matrix

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

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

        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.

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

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

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

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

   4. (aviation) A chosen course or direction for motion, as of an aircraft.
      • 2017, Mark Chambers, Tony Holmes, Nakajima B5N ‘Kate’ and B6N ‘Jill’ Units, page 32:

        I was told to fly out on a vector of 100 degrees to meet a strong plot of aircraft 30 miles from the coast.

3. (computer science) A kind of dynamically resizable array.
   • 2004, Jesse Liberty, Bradley L. Jones, Sams Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days, page 694:

     To create a vector of students in a class, you will want the vector to be large enough […]

   1. (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.
   2. (computer graphics, attributive) A graphical representation using outlines; vector graphics.

      Coordinate term: raster

      a vector image, vector graphics

5. (epidemiology) A carrier of a disease-causing agent.
   1. (molecular biology) A DNA molecule used to carry genetic information from one organism into another.
   2. (sociology) A person or entity that passes along an urban legend or other meme.
      • 2020 October 12, Andrew Marantz, “Why Facebook Can’t Fix Itself”, in The New Yorker‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 September 2026:

        These days, their primary job is to insist that Facebook is a fun place to share baby photos and sell old couches, not a vector for hate speech, misinformation, and violent extremist propaganda.

   3. (psychology) A recurring psychosocial issue that stimulates growth and development in the personality. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?)
6. (history) Forces, developments, phenomena, processes, systems, etc. which influence the trajectory of history (e.g. imperialism)

Hyponyms

• axial vector
• Burgers vector
• change vector
• column vector
• Darboux vector
• displacement vector
• Euclidean vector
• gradient vector
• gyrovector
• irrotational vector
• Laplace–Runge–Lenz vector
• latent vector
• normal vector
• null vector
• position vector
• poxvector
• Poynting vector
• proper vector
• random vector
• row vector
• spin vector (“ spinor”)
• tangent vector
• unit vector
• wave vector

Derived terms

• adenovector
• attack vector
• axial vector
• basis vector
• biovector
• bitvector
• bivector
• characteristic vector
• code vector
• covector
• direction vector
• distance vector
• four-vector
• intermediate vector boson
• isovector
• Killing vector field
• minivector
• multivector
• nanovector
• net magnetization vector
• normed vector space
• paravector
• Pauli vector
• phasor
• polarization vector
• pseudovector
• quadrivector
• radius vector
• real vector space
• retrovector
• revector
• shuttle vector
• statevector
• subvector
• supervector
• support vector machine
• topological vector space
• transvector
• trivector
• vectoral
• vector algebra
• vector-borne
• vector boson
• vector bundle
• vector calculus
• vectorcardiogram
• vectorcardiography
• vector clock
• vector field
• vector function
• vectorial
• vectorially
• vector image
• vectorisation
• vectorise
• vectorization
• vectorize
• vectorless
• vectorlike
• vectorpotential
• vector product
• vectorscope
• vector space
• vector sum
• vector verb
• vectorwise
• viral vector
• word vector
• zero vector

Translations

directed quantity

• Afrikaans: wektor
• Arabic: مُتَّجِه m (muttajih), مُتَّجِهات m pl (muttajihāt), شُعاع m (šuʕāʕ), أَشِعَّة m pl (ʔašiʕʕa)
• Bulgarian: вектор m (vektor)
• Catalan: vector m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 向量 (hoeng³ loeng⁶)

  Mandarin: 向量 (zh) (xiàngliàng), 矢量 (zh) (shǐliàng)

• Czech: vektor (cs) m
• Danish: vektor c
• Dutch: vector (nl) m
• Esperanto: vektoro
• Finnish: vektori (fi)
• French: vecteur (fr) m
• Galician: vector (gl) m
• Georgian: ვექტორი (vekṭori)
• German: Vektor (de) m
• Greek: διάνυσμα (el) n (diánysma)
• Hebrew: וקטור (he) m (vektór)
• Hindi: सदिश f (sadiś)
• Hungarian: vektor (hu)
• Icelandic: vigur
• Ido: vektoro (io)
• Irish: veicteoir m
• Italian: vettore (it) m
• Japanese: ベクトル (ja) (bekutoru)
• Khmer: វ៉ិចទ័រ (km) (vəctɔə)
• Korean: 벡터 (bekteo)
• Latvian: vektors, vektōrs m
• Lithuanian: vektorius (lt) m
• Malay: vektor
• Māori: pere
• Marathi: सदिश (sadiś)
• Mongolian: чиглэл (mn) (čiglel)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: vektor (no) m

  Nynorsk: vektor m

• Persian: بردار (fa)
• Polish: wektor (pl) m
• Portuguese: vector (pt) m (Portugal), vetor (pt) m (Brazil)
• Romanian: vector (ro) m
• Russian: ве́ктор (ru) m (véktor)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: вектор m

  Latin: vektor (sh) m

• Slovene: vektor (sl) m
• Spanish: vector (es) m
• Swedish: vektor (sv) c
• Tagalog: tugano, bektor
• Tamil: திசையன் (ta) (ticaiyaṉ)
• Thai: เวกเตอร์ (vék-dtə̂ə)
• Turkish: vektör (tr), yöney (tr)
• Vietnamese: đại lượng có hướng, đại lượng hữu hướng, hướng lượng

aviation: chosen course or direction for motion

• Bulgarian: курс (bg) m (kurs)
• Catalan: vector m
• Dutch: koers (nl) f
• Finnish: kurssi (fi)
• Galician: vector (gl) m
• Georgian: კურსი (ḳursi), მიმართულება (mimartuleba)
• Irish: veicteoir m
• Malay: vektor
• Portuguese: vector (pt) m
• Russian: курс (ru) m (kurs), направле́ние (ru) n (napravlénije)
• Spanish: vector (es) m
• Swedish: vektor (sv) c

carrier of a disease-causing agent

• Arabic: ناقِل m (nāqil), نَواقِلُ m pl (nawāqilu)
• Bulgarian: преносител (bg) m (prenositel)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 病媒 (zh) (bìngméi)

• Czech: přenašeč (cs) m, vektor (cs) m
• Finnish: taudinkantaja, tartunnanlevittäjä (fi)
• French: vecteur (fr)
• Georgian: ვექტორი (vekṭori)
• Greek: φορέας (el) m (foréas)
• Hindi: रोगवाहक (hi) m (rogvāhak)
• Hungarian: (informal, non-technical) bacilusgazda (hu), (formal) betegséghordozó, vektor (hu)
• Irish: veicteoir m
• Italian: vettore (it)
• Japanese: ベクター (bekutā)
• Khmer: វ៉ិចទ័រ (km) (vəctɔə)
• Malay: vektor
• Māori: kaitītaritari
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: vektor (no) m

  Nynorsk: vektor m

• Polish: przenosiciel m, wektor (pl) m
• Portuguese: vetor (pt)
• Russian: перено́счик (ru) m (perenósčik)
• Spanish: vector (es) m

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

• Finnish: levittäjä (fi)

recurring psychosocial issue that stimulates growth in the personality

way in which the eyes are drawn across the visual text

memory address containing the address of a code entry point

• Polish: wektor (pl) m

programming: kind of array

• Bulgarian: вектор m (vektor), едномерна матрица f (ednomerna matrica)
• Czech: vektor (cs) m
• Finnish: vektori (fi)
• Galician: vector (gl) m
• Georgian: ვექტორი (vekṭori)
• Hebrew: וקטור (he) m (vektór)
• Korean: 벡터 (bekteo)
• Latvian: vektors m
• Malay: vektor
• Portuguese: vetor (pt) m
• Romanian: vector (ro) m
• Russian: ве́ктор (ru) m (véktor), масси́в (ru) m (massív)
• Spanish: vector (es) m
• Vietnamese: mảng một chiều

DNA molecule used to carry genetic information from one organism into another

• Catalan: vector
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 載體 / 载体 (zh) (zàitǐ)

• Czech: vektor (cs) m
• Finnish: vektori (fi)
• Irish: veicteoir m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: vektor (no) m

  Nynorsk: vektor m

Verb

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

1. 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.

2. (computing) To redirect to a vector, or code entry point.

Derived terms

• thrust vectoring

Translations

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

• Bulgarian: насочвам (bg) (nasočvam)
• Finnish: asettaa kurssi
• Georgian: მიმართვა (mimartva), წარმართვა (c̣armartva), მიმართულების მიცემა (mimartulebis micema)
• Welsh: fectoru

References

• The New Oxford Dictionary of English

Anagrams

• Covert, corvet, covert

Catalan

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin vectōrem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [bəkˈtu]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [vəkˈto]
• IPA^(key): (Central) [bəkˈto]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [vekˈtoɾ]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [bekˈto]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

vector m (plural vectors)

1. vector

Derived terms

• pseudovector
• vectorial

Further reading

• “vector”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Dutch

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin vector.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɛk.tɔr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: vec‧tor
• Rhymes: -ɛktɔr

Noun

vector m (plural vectoren, diminutive vectortje n)

1. (mathematics) vector, an element of a vector space

Derived terms

• eenheidsvector
• eigenvector
• normaalvector
• nulvector
• raakvector
• vectoralgebra
• vectoranalyse
• vectordifferentiatie
• vectorlimiet
• vectorproduct
• vectorruimte
• vectorvermenigvuldiging

Galician

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ-

Proto-Indo-European *-eti

Proto-Indo-European *wéǵʰeti

Proto-Italic *weɣō

Latin vehō

Proto-Indo-European *-tōr

Proto-Italic *-tōr

Latin -tor

Latin vectorlbor.

Galician vector

Learned borrowing from Latin vector.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌbetˈtoɾ/ [ˌbet̪ˈt̪oɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ

Noun

vector m (plural vectores)

1. vector

Derived terms

• vector propio
• vector unitario
• vectorial
• vectorización
• vectorizar

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ-

Proto-Indo-European *-eti

Proto-Indo-European *wéǵʰeti

Proto-Italic *weɣō

Latin vehō

Proto-Indo-European *-tōr

Proto-Italic *-tōr

Latin -tor

Latin vector

From vehō (“carry, bear, convey; ride”) + -tor.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈwɛk.tɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈvɛk.tor]

Noun

vector m (genitive vectōris, feminine vectrīx); third declension

1. bearer, carrier
2. passenger
3. (mathematics, physics) vector

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	vector	vectōrēs
genitive	vectōris	vectōrum
dative	vectōrī	vectōribus
accusative	vectōrem	vectōrēs
ablative	vectōre	vectōribus
vocative	vector	vectōrēs

Related terms

• vectīgal

Descendants

• → Catalan: vector
• → Dutch: vector
• → English: vector
• → French: vecteur
• → Galician: vector
• → German: Vektor
• → Italian: vettore
• → Portuguese: vetor
• → Romanian: vector
• → Spanish: vector

Verb

vector

1. first-person singular present passive indicative of vectō

References

• “vector”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “vector”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • passengers: vectores (Phil. 7. 9. 27)
    

Portuguese

Noun

vector m (plural vectores)

1. pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1990 in Portugal) of vetor; still used where the agreement hasn’t come into effect and may occur as a sporadic misspelling

Further reading

• “vector”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “vector”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French vecteur, Latin vector.

Noun

vector m (plural vectori)

1. vector

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	vector	vectorul	vectori	vectorii
genitive-dative	vector	vectorului	vectori	vectorilor
vocative	vectorule		vectorilor

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ-

Proto-Indo-European *-eti

Proto-Indo-European *wéǵʰeti

Proto-Italic *weɣō

Latin vehō

Proto-Indo-European *-tōr

Proto-Italic *-tōr

Latin -tor

Latin vectorlbor.

Spanish vector

Learned borrowing from Latin vector.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /beɡˈtoɾ/ [beɣ̞ˈt̪oɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: vec‧tor

Noun

vector m (plural vectores)

1. vector

Derived terms

• autovector
• eigenvector
• vector propio
• vector unitario
• vectorial
• vectorización
• vectorizar

Further reading

• “vector”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 24th edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 30 October 2026