Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Virtual
1.
Having the power of acting or of invisible efficacy without the agency of the material or sensible part; potential; energizing.
Heat and cold have a
virtual
transition, without communication of substance. Bacon.
Every kind that lives,
Fomented by his
Fomented by his
virtual
power, and warmed. Milton.
2.
Being in essence or effect, not in fact;
as, the
. virtual
presence of a man in his agent or substituteA thing has a
virtual
existence when it has all the conditions necessary to its actual existence. Fleming.
To mask by slight differences in the manners a
virtual
identity in the substance. De Quincey.
Principle of virtual velocities
(Mech.)
, the law that when several forces are in equilibrium, the algebraic sum of their virtual moments is equal to zero.
– Virtual focus
(Opt.)
, the point from which rays, having been rendered divergent by reflection of refraction, appear to issue; the point at which converging rays would meet if not reflected or refracted before they reach it.
– Virtual image
. (Optics)
See under
– Image
. Virtual moment
(of a force) (Mech.)
, the product of the intensity of the force multiplied by the virtual velocity of its point of application; – sometimes called
– virtual work
. Virtual velocity
(Mech.)
, a minute hypothetical displacement, assumed in analysis to facilitate the investigation of statical problems. With respect to any given force of a number of forces holding a material system in equilibrium, it is the projection, upon the direction of the force, of a line joining its point of application with a new position of that point indefinitely near to the first, to which the point is conceived to have been moved, without disturbing the equilibrium of the system, or the connections of its parts with each other. Strictly speaking, it is not a velocity but a length.
– Virtual work
. (Mech.)
See
Virtual moment
, above.Webster 1828 Edition
Virtual
VIR'TUAL
,Adj.
1.
Potential; having the power of acting or of invisible efficacy without the material or sensible part.Every kind that lives, fomented by his virtual power, and warm'd.
Neither an actual nor virtual intention of the mind, but only that which may be gathered from the outward acts.
2.
Being in essence or effect, not in fact; as the virtual presence of a man in his agent or substitute.Definition 2024
virtual
virtual
English
Alternative forms
Adjective
virtual (not comparable)
- In effect or essence, if not in fact or reality; imitated, simulated.
- In fact a defeat on the battlefield, Tet was a virtual victory for the North, owing to its effect on public opinion.
- Virtual addressing allows applications to believe that there is much more physical memory than actually exists.
- Fleming
- A thing has a virtual existence when it has all the conditions necessary to its actual existence.
- De Quincey
- to mask by slight differences in the manners a virtual identity in the substance
- Having the power of acting or of invisible efficacy without the agency of the material or measurable part; potential.
- Francis Bacon
- Heat and cold have a virtual transition, without communication of substance.
- Milton
- Every kind that lives, / Fomented by his virtual power, and warmed.
- Francis Bacon
- Nearly, almost. (A relatively recent corruption of meaning, attributed to misuse in advertising and media.)
- The angry peasants were a virtual army as they attacked the castle.
- Simulated in a computer or online.
- The virtual world of his computer game allowed character interaction.
- Operating by computer or in cyberspace; not physically present.
- a virtual assistant; a virtual personal trainer
- (computing, object-oriented programming, of a class member) Capable of being overridden with a different implementation in a subclass.
- (physics) Pertaining to particles in temporary existence due to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
in effect; not fact
|
simulated in a computer
nearly, almost
in object-oriented programming
Noun
virtual (plural virtuals)
- (computing, programming) A virtual member function of a class.
Portuguese
Adjective
virtual m, f (plural virtuais, comparable)