matrix

noun matrices · matrixes · matrice · Matrix

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 […]
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 ceremoni
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.

   Similar: array, grid, spreadsheet, table

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. Theorem (7.5.2) then says that every positive semidefinite matrix is a convex combination of matrices that lie on extreme rays.
10. A two-dimensional array.
11. 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. 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.
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.
13. A geological matrix.
14. The sediment surrounding and including the artifacts, features, and other materials at a site.
15. 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.

    Similar: printing form

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.

Similar: array, table

proper noun the Matrix · matrix

1. A simulated reality to which many humans are connected. In some works created by sentient machines to subdue humans. “The matrix has its roots in primitive arcade games,” said the voice-over, “in early graphics programs and military experimentation with cranial jacks.” […] “Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation, by children being taught mathem
2. figuratively A social institution or apparatus perceived as largely deceptive or illusory. They claimed that Paraguay’s accommodating immigration laws have proved attractive to Germans who want to “escape the matrix” and flee the “deep state and one world order”.