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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

matrix en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /ˈmeɪ.tɹɪks/
  • /ˈmæt.ɹɪks/
  • /mæːʈ.rɪks/ (India)
  • mătʹrĭks
  • /meːʈ.rɪks/ (India)
  • māʹtrĭks
  • (US) audio
  • /ˈmæɪ.tɹɪks/ (Australia)

Etymology

From Middle English matris, matrice, matrix, from Old French matrice (“pregnant animal”), or from Latin mātrīx (“dam, womb”), both ultimately from māter (“mother”). Doublet of mother from Indo-European ancestor. Slang usage coined with the 1999 sci-fi action film The Matrix.

Meanings

  1. The cavity or mold in which anything is formed.
  2. (archaic) The womb.
    • upon conception the inward orifice of the matrix exactly closeth, so that it commonly admitteth nothing after […] 1650, Thomas Browne, “Enquiries into Vulgar”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC, 3rd book, page 122:
    • In very rare cases, when the matrix just goes on pegging away automatically, the doctor can take advantage of that and ease out the second brat who then can be considered to be, say, three minutes younger […] 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in Ada, or, Ardor: A Family Chronicle, Harmondsworth, Middlesex [London]: Penguin Books, published 1970, →ISBN, part 2, page 269:
  3. The metaphorical place where something is made, formed, or given birth.
    • When it is remembered that ritual dancing was the matrix out of which the Drama sprang, and further that the drama in its inception (as still to-day in India) was an affair of religion and was acted in, or in connection with, the Temples, it becomes easier to understand how all this mass of ceremonial sacrifices, expiations, initiations, Sun and Nature festivals, eucharistic and orgiastic communions and celebrations, mystery-plays, dramatic representations, myths and legends, etc. [...] have practically sprung from the same root: a root deep and necessary in the psychology of Man. 1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., published 1921, page 172:
  4. The material or tissue in which more specialized structures are embedded.
  5. An extracellular matrix, the material or tissue between the cells of animals or plants.
  6. Part of the mitochondrion.
  7. The medium in which bacteria are cultured.
  8. A table of data.
  9. A rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms having various uses such as transforming coordinates in geometry, solving systems of linear equations in linear algebra and representing graphs in graph theory.
    • The Fibonacci numbers have been widely studied, and the different ways to generate those numbers have gained continued interest, among them matrix methods [10], determinants [5], permanents [6], Pascal’s triangle [9], binomial coefficients [3], and many others [8]. […] In [1] two tridiagonal Toeplitz matrices were presented […] 2019 June 24, Juan Triana, “Negafibonacci Numbers via Matrices”, in Bulletin of TICMI, volume 23, number 1, →ISSN, archived from the original on 13 Jul 2019, Introduction, page 1:
    • Check that the #92;mathcal#123;A#125;(#92;mathcal#123;D#125;)² in the example is itself the adjacency matrix of the indicated digraph: 2003, Robert A. Liebler, Basic Matrix Algebra with Algorithms and Applications, CRC Press (Chapman & Hall/CRC), page 64:
    • 2007, Gerhard Kloos, Matrix Methods for Optical Layout, SPIE Press, page 25, The matrix describing the reflection at a plane mirror can be obtained by taking the matrix for reflection at a spherical reflector and letting the radius of the spherical mirror tend to infinity.
    • Theorem (7.5.2) then says that every positive semidefinite matrix is a convex combination of matrices that lie on extreme rays. 1987, [1985], Roger A. Horn, Charles R. Johnson, Matrix Analysis, Paperback edition, Cambridge University Press, published 1990, page 464:
  10. A two-dimensional array.
  11. (alt-of, figuratively, slang) Alternative letter-case form of Matrix; a controlled environment or situation in which people behave in ways that conform to pre-determined roles.
    alt of Matrix
    • He'd operated on an almost permanent adrenaline high, a byproduct of youth and proficiency, jacked into a custom cyberspace deck that projected his disembodied consciousness into the consensual hallucination that was the matrix. 1984, William Gibson, Neuromancer (Sprawl; book 1), New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 5:
    • Mari Otsu, a 25-year-old Japanese-Hawaiian artist, tells me she was “desperately lonely” while she was studying at New York University, when she “realised that [she]^([sic]) was in the matrix”. I ask her what she means. 2023 October 28, Jemima Kelly, “Back to school”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 20:
  12. A grid-like arrangement of electronic components, especially one intended for information coding, decoding or storage.
    • Any type of core or diode matrix used to derive the decoding of these codes would amount to a rather large volume of terminals for just the 17,500 terminals alone. 1949, Proceedings of the Association of American Railroads:
    • The transistor matrix in the encoder supplies the sequential gates. 1959, John Millar Carroll, Modern Transistor Circuits:
    • A transistor-diode matrix is composed of vertical and horizontal wires with a transistor at each intersection. 1962, Burroughs Corporation, Digital Computer Principles:
    • Robot controllers range in complexity from simple stepping switches through pneumatic logic sequencers, diode matrix boards, electronic sequencers, and microprocessors to minicomputers. 1987, David Ardayfio, Fundamentals of Robotics:
    • Diode matrix is the most fundamental of all ROM structure. 2002, B. Somantathan Nair, Digital Electronics and Logic Design:
  13. A geological matrix.
  14. The sediment surrounding and including the artifacts, features, and other materials at a site.
  15. (qualifier:analytical chemistry) The environment from which a given sample is taken.
  16. (historical) In hot metal typesetting, a mold for casting a letter.
  17. (historical) In printmaking, the plate or block used, with ink, to hold the image that makes up the print.
  18. The five simple colours (black, white, blue, red, and yellow) from which all the others are formed.
  19. (material) A binding agent of composite materials, e.g. resin in fibreglass.
  20. Matrix clause is a clause that has another (subordinate) clause embedded within it.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
matrixes Number=Plur lexicographic
matrice alternative, obsolete lexicographic
Matrix alternative, capitalized lexicographic
matrices Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

matrix mixer · matrix management · pro-matrix metalloproteinase · matrix metalloproteinase · matrix clause · matrixial · patrix · Matrixism · matrixlike · matrix diagram · matrix protein · dot matrix printer · matrisome · dot-matrix · matrix mechanics · matrician · matrixectomy · matrixed · matrix algebra · matroid · matrix language · matrix isolation · matrixwise · matrix decomposition · impact matrix printer · matrix group

Hyponyms

singular matrix · degenerate matrix · traceability matrix · nonmatrix · augmented matrix · adjacency matrix · orthogonal matrix · transfer matrix · coefficient matrix · cytomatrix · interaction matrix · geological matrix · Fock matrix · supermatrix · invertible matrix · dot matrix · germinal matrix · Cartan matrix · Eisenhower matrix · density matrix · Plücker matrix · Hermitian matrix · multimatrix · elementary matrix · mitochondrial matrix · incidence matrix · Jacobian matrix · perimatrix · Laplacian matrix · triangular matrix · square matrix · submatrix · transition matrix · identity matrix · hypermatrix · semimatrix · Toeplitz matrix · defective matrix · zero matrix · unit matrix · CKM matrix · inverse matrix · bimatrix · Pauli matrix · Jordan matrix · conference matrix · transformation matrix · territorial matrix · Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix · active matrix · comatrix · nuclear matrix · projection matrix · data matrix · right stochastic matrix · symplectic matrix · polymatrix · extracellular matrix · unitary matrix · null matrix · sociomatrix · trimatrix · nanomatrix · Rumsfeld matrix · symmetric matrix · S-matrix · diagonal matrix · skew-symmetric matrix · stochastic matrix · Coxeter matrix · neuromatrix · eigenmatrix · Hessian matrix · Tutte matrix · biomatrix · intramatrix · wavelet matrix · Hankel matrix · hemimatrix

Relateds

alma mater · matriculate

Synonyms

array · array (table of data) · array · table (table of data) · printing form · grid (table of data) · spreadsheet (table of data) · table

Translations (135)

es matriz (1. cavity or mold in which anything is formed) · ar مَصْفُوفَة (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · sv matris (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · bg матри́ца (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · fi matriksi (5. extracellular matrix — see also extracellular matrix) · ro matrice (10. two-dimensional array) · is innrúm (10. two-dimensional array) · uk ма́триця (17. plate or block holding an image (printing)) · bg матри́ца (17. plate or block holding an image (printing)) · pt matriz (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · ru ма́трица (10. two-dimensional array) · mi poukapa (10. two-dimensional array) · cs matice (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · it matrice (14. archaeology: sediment surrounding and including materials) · pl macierz (10. two-dimensional array) · sh ма̏трикс (4. biology: embedding material or tissue) · is mergur (4. biology: embedding material or tissue) · mi poukapa (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · nl matrix (10. two-dimensional array) · is fylki (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · es matriz (4. biology: embedding material or tissue) · es matriz (2. womb) · ca matriu (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · is uppistöðuefni (7. medium in which bacteria are cultured) · fa ماتریس (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · hu mátrix (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · pt matriz mitocondrial (6. part of the mitochondrion) · pl macierz (6. part of the mitochondrion) · kk матрица (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · sh mȁtriks (4. biology: embedding material or tissue) · eo matrico (10. two-dimensional array) · ru ма́трица (8. table of data) · el μήτρα (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · de Matrize (16. mold for casting a letter (hot metal typesetting)) · ca matriu (14. archaeology: sediment surrounding and including materials) · fi matriisi (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · pt matriz (5. extracellular matrix — see also extracellular matrix) · vi ma trận (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · sh matrìca (10. two-dimensional array) · cmn 矩陣 /矩阵 (10. two-dimensional array) · it matrice (5. extracellular matrix — see also extracellular matrix) · es matriz (10. two-dimensional array) · fi matriksi (7. medium in which bacteria are cultured) · fi matriisi (10. two-dimensional array) · it matrice (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · ca matriu (10. two-dimensional array) · el μήτρα (6. part of the mitochondrion) · ca matriu (2. womb) · bg матри́ца (8. table of data) · ru ма́трица (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · nn matrise (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · sq matricë (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · is afsteypumót (14. archaeology: sediment surrounding and including materials) · de Matrix (8. table of data) · ka მატრიცა (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · lt matrica (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · sl matrika (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · ko 행렬 (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · fi marto (4. biology: embedding material or tissue) · sv matris (10. two-dimensional array) · sh bakterijska podloga (7. medium in which bacteria are cultured) · is grind (6. part of the mitochondrion) · te మాత్రిక (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · nb matrise (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · cmn 陣列 /阵列 (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · nn matrise (10. two-dimensional array) · tl baskagan (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · az matris (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · nl matrix (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · he מַטְרִיצָה (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · fi matriksi (6. part of the mitochondrion) · hi आव्यूह (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · ru ма́трица (14. archaeology: sediment surrounding and including materials) · it matrice (7. medium in which bacteria are cultured) · cmn 陣列 /阵列 (10. two-dimensional array) · he טַבְלָה (10. two-dimensional array) · el μεσοκυττάρια ουσία (5. extracellular matrix — see also extracellular matrix) · sk matica (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · el πίνακας (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · tr matris (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · ms matriks (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · de Matrix (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · fi matriksi (4. biology: embedding material or tissue) · ko 행렬 (10. two-dimensional array) · ru ма́трица (17. plate or block holding an image (printing)) · th เมทริกซ์ (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · da matrix (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · pl macierz (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · sh matrìca (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · uk ма́триця (16. mold for casting a letter (hot metal typesetting)) · lv matrica (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · fi taulukko (8. table of data) · is grind (4. biology: embedding material or tissue) · sl matrica (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · sh матрѝца (10. two-dimensional array) · ky матрица (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · km ម៉ាទ្រីស (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · it matrice (10. two-dimensional array) · fi maaperä (14. archaeology: sediment surrounding and including materials) · de Matrix (10. two-dimensional array) · mi anga ā-roto (6. part of the mitochondrion) · ro matrice (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · hy մատրիցա (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · es matriz (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · id matriks (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · el μήτρα (10. two-dimensional array) · fr matrice (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · de Matrix (19. binding component of compound materials) · ru ма́трица (16. mold for casting a letter (hot metal typesetting)) · pl matrix (6. part of the mitochondrion) · eo matrico (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · sh матрѝца (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · uk ма́триця (10. two-dimensional array) · es matriz (5. extracellular matrix — see also extracellular matrix) · fi viljelyaine (7. medium in which bacteria are cultured) · uk ма́триця (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · uz matritsa (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · fr matrice (5. extracellular matrix — see also extracellular matrix) · cmn 矩陣 /矩阵 (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · fi laskentataulukko (8. table of data) · mk матрица (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · cmn 基質 /基质 (15. analytical chemistry: sampling environment) · lo ມາຕຣິກ (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · tg матритса (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · et maatriks (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · nb matrise (10. two-dimensional array) · hy մատրից (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · fi soluväliaine (5. extracellular matrix — see also extracellular matrix) · ja 行列 (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · pl matryca (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · is mót (14. archaeology: sediment surrounding and including materials) · el μητρώο (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · cs matice (10. two-dimensional array) · be ма́трыца (9. math: rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms) · pt matriz (10. two-dimensional array)