Adjacent Words

Virtual definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

VIR'TUAL, a. [See Virtue.]
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.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: being actually such in almost every respect; "a practical failure"; "the once elegant temple lay in virtual ruin" [syn: virtual, practical]
2: existing in essence or effect though not in actual fact; "a virtual dependence on charity"; "a virtual revolution"; "virtual reality"

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English, efficacious, potential, from Medieval Latin virtualis, from Latin virtus strength, virtue Date: 15th century 1. being such in essence or effect though not formally recognized or admitted <a virtual dictator> 2. of, relating to, or using virtual memory 3. of, relating to, or being a hypothetical particle whose existence is inferred from indirect evidence <virtual photons> — compare real 3 4. being on or simulated on a computer or computer network <print or virtual books> <a virtual keyboard>: as a. occurring or existing primarily online <a virtual library> <virtual shopping> b. of, relating to, or existing within a virtual reality <a virtual world> <a virtual tour>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 that is such for practical purposes though not in name or according to strict definition (is the virtual manager of the business; take this as a virtual promise). 2 Optics relating to the points at which rays would meet if produced backwards (virtual focus; virtual image). 3 Mech. relating to an infinitesimal displacement of a point in a system. 4 Computing not physically existing as such but made by software to appear to do so (virtual memory). Derivatives: virtuality n. virtually adv. Etymology: ME f. med.L virtualis f. L virtus after LL virtuosus

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. You can use virtual to indicate that something is so nearly true that for most purposes it can be regarded as true. Argentina came to a virtual standstill while the game was being played... ...conditions of virtual slavery. ADJ: ADJ n 2. Virtual objects and activities are generated by a computer to simulate real objects and activities. (COMPUTING) This is a virtual shopping centre offering visitors entry to a clutch of well-known e-tailers without going to their different websites. ADJ: ADJ n • virtuality People speculate about virtuality systems, but we're already working on it.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Substantial, constructive, practical, essential, equivalent, implied, implicit, indirect. 2. Potential, in essence or effect.

Moby Thesaurus

accepted, basic, between the lines, constructive, covert, cryptic, delitescent, dormant, effective, esoteric, essential, fundamental, hibernating, hidden, latent, lurking, muffled, mystic, obfuscated, obscured, occult, possible, potential, practical, sleeping, submerged, under the surface, underlying, understood, unmanifested, veiled