virtual

 
Pronunciation: /ˈvəːtjʊəl/

adjective

  • 1almost or nearly as described, but not completely or according to strict definition: the virtual absence of border controls
  • 2 Computing not physically existing as such but made by software to appear to do so: virtual imagesSee also virtual reality.
  • carried out, accessed, or stored by means of a computer, especially over a network: a virtual library virtual learning
  • 3 Optics relating to the points at which rays would meet if produced backwards.
  • 4 Mechanics relating to or denoting infinitesimal displacements of a point in a system.
  • 5 Physics denoting particles or interactions with extremely short lifetimes and (owing to the uncertainty principle) indefinitely great energies, postulated as intermediates in some processes.

Derivatives

virtuality

Pronunciation: /-jʊˈalɪti/
noun

Origin:

late Middle English (also in the sense 'possessing certain virtues'): from medieval Latin virtualis, from Latin virtus 'virtue', suggested by late Latin virtuosus