vector

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈvek.tə/, US /ˈvek.tɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin vector (“one who carries or conveys, a carrier, rider”),^[2][3][4] an agent noun from vect-, the past participle stem of vehere, to carry (see vehicle and weigh).^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In astronomy, the line joining a fixed point (the sun) to a moving one (a planet): 1704.^[2][5][3]

Semantic evolution

The mathematical sense, a quantity with direction as well as magnitude, is first recorded in 1846,^[2][3][5] and an ordered set of numbers from 1873.^[5] In medicine and biology, an organism such as a mosquito that carries a disease is from 1922, close to the Latin sense “carrier”.^[5] A course given to an aircraft is from 1941,^[5][6] and the computing sense from 1961.^[5][3]

Timeline

• 1704 – an astronomical line.^[2][5]
• 1846 – a quantity with direction.^[2][5]
• 1922 – a carrier of disease.^[5]
• 1941 – an aircraft's course.^[5][6]
• 1961 – in computing.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (mathematics, physics) A quantity, such as velocity or force, that has both magnitude and direction.
2. An organism, such as a mosquito or tick, that carries a disease from one host to another.
3. A one-dimensional array of numbers.
4. A course given to an aircraft.

Verb

1. To guide an aircraft by radio along a given course.

Word family

• vectorial
• vectorially
• vectorcardiogram
• vectorcardiography
• characteristic vector
• intermediate vector boson
• radius vector

Related words

• vehicle
• convection
• weigh
• way

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster