(Via the technical term {virtual memory}, probably from the term "virtual image" in optics) 1. Common alternative to logicaloften 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. Simulatedperforming 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)