English
vector
Vector comes from Latin vector ‘carrier, transporter’, from Proto-Italic *weɣō ‘to carry, convey’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- ‘to transport’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weǵʰ-‘to transport’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wéǵʰeti‘to be transporting’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*weɣō‘to carry, convey’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvehō‘to carry, transport, bear’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEvector‘carrier, transporter’
- Englishearliest quotation 1914vector
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weǵʰ-‘to transport’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wéǵʰeti‘to be transporting’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*weɣō‘to carry, convey’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvehō‘to carry, transport, bear’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEvector‘carrier, transporter’
- Englishearliest quotation 1914vector
Earliest quotation: 1914, The New Student's Reference Work:: “As examples of vector quantities may be mentioned the…”
The story
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.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- ‘to transport’
way, always, via, wave, reveal, wagon, vogue, wedge, vein, veil, wag, venous, vex, wey, waw, wain, vena, velar, 40 more
through Proto-Indo-European *wéǵʰeti ‘to be transporting’
halfway, weigh, wee, headway, wonky, eunuch, 9 more
through Latin vehō ‘to carry, transport, bear’
Today it means
noun A directed quantity, one with both magnitude and direction; the signed difference between two points.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- / vector