# matrix

Pronunciation: say "MAY-triks" US /ˈmeɪ.tɹɪks/, AUS /ˈmæɪ.tɹɪks/

## Noun

1. A rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms in rows and columns, used for such purposes as transforming coordinates, solving systems of linear equations, and representing graphs.
   - Simple: A set of numbers arranged in rows and columns, used in math.
   - _Multiplying a vector by a rotation matrix turns it through a fixed angle._
   - _The whole system of equations can be written compactly as a single matrix equation._
2. A table or two-dimensional array of data or values arranged in rows and columns.
   - Simple: A set of facts or numbers laid out in rows and columns, like a table.
   - _The report's risk matrix rates every hazard by likelihood and severity._
   - _Planners drew up a matrix of routes and travel times for the whole network._
3. The substance or tissue that surrounds and holds more specialized structures within it.
   - Simple: The material in a living thing that other, more specialized parts are set in.
   - _Cartilage consists of a few cells scattered through a dense, rubbery matrix._
   - _Tooth enamel forms within a protein matrix that later hardens with minerals._
4. The setting or set of circumstances within which something is formed, grows, or comes into being.
   - Simple: The place or situation where something new grows and begins.
   - _Medieval guilds were the matrix out of which the modern university emerged._
   - _Her early years in the newsroom became the matrix of everything she later wrote._
5. The binding material of a composite, such as the resin surrounding the glass fibers in fiberglass.
   - Simple: In a mixed material, the part that holds the fibers or pieces together, like resin in fiberglass.
   - _Carbon fibers are laid into an epoxy matrix and cured under heat and pressure._
   - _Concrete is a composite too: the cement paste serves as the matrix around the sand and gravel._
6. A grid-like array of electronic components, especially one used for encoding, decoding, or storing information.
   - Simple: A set of electronic parts arranged in a grid, often used to store or decode information.
   - _Early computers stored data in a core matrix of tiny magnetic rings threaded on wires._
   - _Hand-wired matrix boards controlled the sequence of moves in some early industrial robots._
7. The finer rock or sediment in which larger grains, crystals, fossils, or buried remains are embedded.
   - Simple: The rock or soil that surrounds and holds fossils, crystals, or old objects.
   - _Preparators spent months freeing the skeleton from its limestone matrix._
   - _Garnets stand out as red specks in a dark matrix of mica and quartz._
9. A simulated world produced by computers, in which people live and experience everything as real without realizing it is fake.
   - Simple: A pretend world made by computers that people live in without knowing it is not real.
   - _The novel's heroine slowly learns that her city, her friends, and even her memories are part of a matrix run by machines._
   - _Rebels in the game try to wake the sleepers who still believe the Matrix is the real world._
10. A mold in which something is cast or shaped, such as one used to cast printing type.
   - Simple: A hollow shape that something, such as a metal letter for printing, is made in.
   - _The jeweler pressed soft wax into the matrix to copy the medallion's design._
   - _Craftsmen kept matrices for each design so a damaged piece could be recast._
8. The dense, enzyme-rich fluid filling the space inside the inner membrane of a mitochondrion, the structure that produces a cell's energy.
   - Simple: The thick liquid inside the inner wall of a mitochondrion, the tiny power plant inside a cell.
   - _Enzymes of the citric acid cycle are dissolved in the mitochondrial matrix._
   - _Protons pumped out of the matrix flow back in to drive the making of ATP._
11. In printmaking, the inked plate or block that carries the image from which prints are taken.
   - Simple: In printmaking, the plate or block that carries the inked picture to be printed.
   - _An etcher bites the drawing into a copper matrix with acid before inking it._
   - _Museums label prints by the kind of matrix used, whether woodblock, copperplate, or stone._

## Noun

12. The womb, the organ in which offspring develop before birth. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: The womb, the part of the body where a baby grows before birth.

## Other meanings

- (noun) In chemical analysis, everything in a sample other than the substance being measured.
- (noun) The medium in which bacteria are grown in the laboratory.
- (noun) Used of a clause within which another, subordinate clause is embedded.
- (noun) In old dyeing practice, the five colors black, white, blue, red and yellow, once thought to be the basis of all other shades.

## Origin

Latin māter ("mother") is the root behind both Latin mātrīx ("dam, womb") and Old French matrice ("womb"), and one or the other gave Middle English matris, matrice, or matrix. Mother descends from the same Indo-European ancestor. The simulated-reality slang use was popularized by the 1999 science-fiction action film The Matrix.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/matrix (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).