Vectorise

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To transform a raster image or graphic into a vector format used with points, lines, curves, and shapes
2. The process of changing pixel-based graphics into a scalable design composed of geometric elements
3. Converting bitmap images into a format that defines graphics through mathematical descriptions instead of pixels

Etymology: "Vectorise" is a plain formation: the noun "vector" with the verbal suffix "-ise" added. The noun reaches English from Latin "vector", meaning "carrier" or "one who conveys", built from "vehere", "to carry", with the agent suffix "-tor". Its mathematical sense, a quantity with both magnitude and direction, came later, and it is this sense that the computing verb draws on. In the sense of conveying things, the noun's ancestry stretches back to the same root as English "way" and "wagon". The suffix does most of the work in the verb. "-ise" passed through Ancient Greek "-izein", was adopted into Late Latin as "-izare", reached Middle French as "-iser", and entered English as "-isen" in Middle English, later settling into the spelling "-ise" used in British English. Attaching it to a noun creates a verb meaning "to turn into or treat in the manner of" that noun, so "vectorise" means to turn an image into vector form.

Synonyms: vectorize