Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1700-1800
Language: Latin
Origin: 'carrier', from vehere; VEHICLE

vector

 noun
     
Related topics: Biology, Maths, Physics
vec‧tor [countable] technical
1HM a quantity such as force that has a direction as well as size
2 an insect or animal that passes disease from one person to another [= carrier]:
Mosquitoes are feared as vectors of malaria.
3 in biology, an animal or human cell that is used to carry DNA from one cell to another to produce a clone
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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