vector
- 01 C1 Advanced
n.a quantity that has both a size and a specific direction.
n.a quantity possessing both magnitude and direction, represented geometrically by an arrow.
Simple“The teacher asked us to calculate the velocity vector of the moving car.”
In context“In classical mechanics, force is treated as a vector because its effect depends on both its strength and the direction in which it is applied.”
UsageOften used with 'magnitude' and 'direction'.
- 02 C1 Advanced
n.an insect or animal that carries a disease from one person to another.
n.an organism, typically a biting insect or tick, that transmits a pathogen from one host to another.
Simple“Mosquitoes are the primary vector for spreading malaria in this region.”
In context“Public health officials focused on eliminating stagnant water to reduce the population of the biological vector responsible for the outbreak.”
UsageCommonly used in the phrase 'disease vector'.
Synonyms - 03 C2 Proficiency
n.a list of data items that can change in size.
n.a data structure representing a one-dimensional array that can be dynamically resized.
Simple“The programmer used a vector to store the list of user names.”
In context“The algorithm's efficiency improved significantly after we replaced the static array with a dynamic vector to handle fluctuating data loads.”
- 04 C2 Proficiency
v.to give a pilot directions to fly a certain course.
v.to guide an aircraft in a particular direction using radio instructions.
Simple“The air traffic controller had to vector the plane around the storm.”
In context“The pilot requested that the tower vector them toward the secondary runway due to the increasing crosswinds.”
“The engines are primarily designed for orbit-raising, but they’re also suitable for attitude control because they can vector their thrust with a two-axis gimbal.”
“Mosquito vector research , for comparison, began in 1897.”
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.