Virtualizers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A method or software that emulates or simulates systems, making them appear functional in a non-physical space
2. Tools or applications that create a simulated environment to optimize resource use or enhance computing efficiency
3. Refers to technologies that allow real-time interaction with a simulated reality, often in computing and gaming contexts

Etymology: Virtualizer is a plain English formation: the verb "virtualize" with the agent suffix "-er" added at the end, meaning a thing that does the virtualizing. The "-er" ending comes down through Old and Middle English from a Latin suffix "-ārius," which made nouns for people or things connected with a task, and it passed into French and then into English. The verb it grows from, "virtualize," is built from "virtual" plus the verb-forming suffix "-ize." That suffix reaches English through Middle French "-iser" and Late Latin "-izāre," which in turn was borrowed from Greek "-izein." "Virtual" itself comes from Late Latin "virtualis," from Latin "virtus," meaning power or strength, so a virtual thing was originally one that has the effect or power of something without being that thing in fact. The word is a late, technical coinage. Its meaning is tied to computing, where a virtualizer creates a simulated version of hardware, operating systems or networks in software, rather than an older sense of the root "virtual" that is used in philosophy or optics.

Synonyms: simulators, emulators