Glossary for Geospatial Science

vector: “A quantity possessing magnitude and direction, represented by an arrow, the direction of which indicates the direction of the quantity and the length of which is proportional to the magnitude” (Random House).  In connection with GIS and computer graphics, this term is used more loosely to refer to a set of vectors joined end to end to make an arc or irregular line with a uniform set of properties.  TNTmips uses this looser definition and also imposes topology and attaches a set of attributes to the vector in place of the magnitude in the Random House definition.