(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)
