vector

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun a variable quantity that can be resolved into components
noun a straight line segment whose length is magnitude and whose orientation in space is direction
noun any agent (person or animal or microorganism) that carries and transmits a disease

The mathematics sense was coined by Irish mathematician and astronomer William Rowan Hamilton in 1846.

"Now I get the vector! — Plague Ship, Andre Norton
Mass, which used to be regarded as the most indubitable of physical quantities, is now generally believed to vary according to velocity, and to be, in fact, a vector quantity which at a given moment is different in different directions. — Mysticism and Logic and Other Essays, Bertrand Russell

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