< jargon , architecture > (Via the technical term virtual memory , probably from the term "virtual image" in optics) 1. Common alternative to logical ; often used to refer to the artificial objects (like addressable virtual memory larger than physical memory) created by a computer system to help the system control access to shared resources.
2. Simulated; performing the functions of something that isn't really there. An imaginative child's doll may be a virtual playmate.
Opposite of real or physical.
[ Jargon File ]
(1994-11-30)