vector
vec·tor/ˈvɛktɚ/noun, verb
vector is spelled V-E-C-T-O-R: 6 letters and 2 syllables (vec·tor). It appears 9.8 times per million words in written English, the 7,224th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, vector means “A directed quantity, one with both magnitude and direction; the signed difference between two points” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of vector is vectors.
How many letters and syllables are in vector?
| Letters | 6: V-E-C-T-O-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: vec·tor |
| In writing | 9.8 times per million words; the 7,224th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is vector?
Vector appears 9.8 times per million words in written English, the 7,224th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce vector?
- UK /ˈvɛktə/
- US /ˈvɛktɚ/
Vector has 2 syllables, split vec·tor in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-vector.ogg, En-au-vector.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with vector?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as vector from its last stressed vowel (/ɛktəɹ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: covert.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of vector
- vectors plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- vectoring participle, present
- vectored participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does vector mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A directed quantity, one with both magnitude and direction; the signed difference between two points.
Velocity is a vector defined by the speed of an object and its direction.
- 2
Any member of a (generalized) vector space.
The vectors in #123;#92;mathbbQ#125;#91;X#93; are the single-variable polynomials with rational coefficients: one is #92;textstylex#123;42#125;#43;#92;frac1#123;137#125;x-1.
- 3
An ordered tuple, originally one representing a directed quantity, but by extension any one-dimensional matrix.
Computers store many types of data as vectors for ease of processing.
- 4
A chosen course or direction for motion, as of an aircraft.
- 5
A kind of dynamically resizable array.
- 6
A memory address containing the address of a code entry point, usually one which is part of a table and often one that is dereferenced and jumped to during the execution of an interrupt.
- 7
A graphical representation using outlines; vector graphics.
a vector image, vector graphics
- 8
A DNA molecule used to carry genetic information from one organism into another.
verb
- 1
To set (particularly an aircraft) on a course toward a selected point.
- 2
To redirect to a vector, or code entry point.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Vector in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense directed quantity:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does vector come from?
Learned borrowing from Latin vector (“carrier, transporter”), from vehō (“to carry, transport, bear”), also ultimately the root of English vehicle. The “person or entity that passes along an urban legend or other meme” sense derives from the disease sense. The mathematics sense was coined by Irish mathematician and astronomer William Rowan Hamilton in 1846.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).