virtual

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
virtual /ˈvəːtjʊəl/

▶adjective

• 1 almost or nearly as described, but not completely or according to strict definition.

• 2 Computing not physically existing as such but made by software to appear to do so.

• 3 Optics relating to the points at which rays would meet if produced backwards.

• 4 Mechanics relating to or denoting infinitesimal displacements of a point in a system.

– derivatives
virtuality /-jʊˈalɪti/ noun.

– origin ME (also in the sense ‘possessing certain virtues’): from med. L. virtualis, from L. virtus ‘virtue’.