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virtual

 

  4  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Virtual  \Vir"tu*al\  (?;  135),  a.  [Cf.  F.  virtuel.  See  {Virtue}.] 
  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  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  substitute. 
 
  A  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. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  virtual 
  adj  1:  being  actually  such  in  almost  every  respect;  "a  practical 
  failure";  "the  once  elegant  temple  lay  in  virtual 
  ruin"  [syn:  {virtual(a)},  {practical(a)}] 
  2:  being  such  in  essence  or  effect  though  not  in  actual  fact 
  "a  virtual  dependence  on  charity";  "a  virtual  revolution"; 
  "virtual  reality"  [syn:  {virtual(a)}] 
 
  From  Jargon  File  (4.2.3,  23  NOV  2000)  [jargon]: 
 
  virtual  adj  [via  the  technical  term  `virtual  memory',  prob. 
  from  the  term  `virtual  image'  in  optics]  1.  Common  alternative  to 
  {logical};  often  used  to  refer  to  the  artificial  objects  (like  addressable 
  virtual  memory  larger  than  physical  memory)  simulated  by  a  computer  system 
  as  a  convenient  way  to  manage  access  to  shared  resources.  2.  Simulated; 
  performing  the  functions  of  something  that  isn't  really  there 
  An  imaginative  child's  doll  may  be  a  virtual  playmate.  Oppose  {real}. 
 
 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  virtual 
 
    (Via  the  technical  term  {virtual 
  memory},  probably  from  the  term  "virtual  image"  in  optics) 
  1.  Common  alternative  to  {logical};  often  used  to  refer  to  the 
  artificial  objects  (like  addressable  {virtual  memory}  larger 
  than  physical  memory)  created  by  a  computer  system  to  help  the 
  system  control  access  to  shared  resources. 
 
  2.  Simulated;  performing  the  functions  of  something  that  isn't 
  really  there  An  imaginative  child's  doll  may  be  a  virtual 
  playmate. 
 
  Opposite  of  {real}  or  physical. 
 
  [{Jargon  File}] 
 
  (1994-11-30)




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