virtual Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite being actually such in almost every respect
    practical.
    • a practical failure
    • the once elegant temple lay in virtual ruin
  2. adjective satellite existing in essence or effect though not in actual fact
    • a virtual dependence on charity
    • a virtual revolution
    • virtual reality

WordNet


Vir"tu*al adjective
Etymology
Cf. F. virtuel. See Virtue.
Definitions
  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.

Webster 1913