ETYM Latin, a bearer, carrier. from vehere, vectum, to carry.
1. A straight line segment whose length is magnitude and whose orientation in space is direction.
2. A variable quantity that can be resolved into components.
3. In mathematics and physics, a variable that has both distance and direction. Compare scalar.

Disease-carrying agent. The term is usually applied to insects, ticks and the like, that transmit parasites from one person to another or from animals to human beings. The Anopheles mosquito is a vector, transmitting the malaria parasite in its salivary glands.

1. In computer graphics, a line drawn in a certain direction from a starting point to an endpoint, both of whose locations are identified by the computer using x-y-coordinates on a grid. Vectors are used in the output of some graphics programs instead of groups of dots (on paper) or pixels (on screen). See also vector graphics.
2. In data structures, a one-dimensional array—a set of items arranged in a single column or row. See also array, matrix.

1. To guide (as an airplane, its pilot, or a missile) in flight by means of a radioed vector
2. To change the direction of (the thrust of a jet engine) for steering