Main Entry: ¹vec·tor

Pronunciation: \ˈvek-tər\

Function: noun

Etymology: New Latin, from Latin, carrier, from vehere to carry — more at way

Date: 1846

1 a : a quantity that has magnitude and direction and that is commonly represented by a directed line segment whose length represents the magnitude and whose orientation in space represents the direction; broadly : an element of a vector space b : a course or compass direction especially of an airplane
2 a : an organism (as an insect) that transmits a pathogen b : pollinator a
3 : an agent (as a plasmid or virus) that contains or carries modified genetic material (as recombinant DNA) and can be used to introduce exogenous genes into the genome of an organism

— vector adjective

— vec·to·ri·al \vek-ˈtȯr-ē-əl\ adjective

— vec·to·ri·al·ly \-ə-lē\ adverb