matrix

Borrowed from Old French matrice (“pregnant animal”), or from Latin mātrīx (“dam, womb”), from māter (“mother”).

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• 1: enPR: māʹtrĭks; IPA^(key): /ˈmeɪtɹɪks/
• 2: enPR: măʹtrĭks; IPA^(key): /ˈmætɹɪks/

matrix (plural matrices or matrixes)

1. (now rare) The womb.
   • 1646, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, III.17:

     upon conception the inward orifice of the matrix exactly closeth, so that it commonly admitteth nothing after [...].

   • 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin 2011, p. 296:

     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 [...].

2. (biology) The material or tissue in which more specialized structures are embedded.
3. (biology) An extracellular matrix, the material or tissue between the cells of animals or plants.
4. (biology) Part of the mitochondrion.
5. (biology) The medium in which bacteria are cultured.
6. (mathematics) 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.
   • 1987 [1985], Roger A. Horn, Charles R. Johnson, Matrix Analysis, Cambridge University Press, 1990, Paperback Edition, page 464,

     Theorem (7.5.2) then says that every positive semidefinite matrix is a convex combination of matrices that lie on extreme rays.

   • 2003, Robert A. Liebler, Basic Matrix Algebra with Algorithms and Applications, CRC Press (Chapman & Hall/CRC), page 64,

     Check that the ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {A}}({\mathcal {D}})^{2}}$ in the example is itself the adjacency matrix of the indicated digraph:

   • 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.

7. (computing) A two-dimensional array.
8. (electronics) A grid-like arrangement of electronic components, especially one intended for information coding, decoding or storage.
   • 2002, B. Somantathan Nair, Digital Electronics and Logic Design

     Diode matrix is the most fundamental of all ROM structure.

   • 1987, David Ardayfio, Fundamentals of Robotics

     Robot controllers range in complexity from simple stepping switches through pneumatic logic sequencers, diode matrix boards, electronic sequencers, and microprocessors to minicomputers.

   • 1962, Burroughs Corporation, Digital Computer Principles

     A transistor-diode matrix is composed of vertical and horizontal wires with a transistor at each intersection.

   • 1959, John Millar Carroll, Modern Transistor Circuits

     The transistor matrix in the encoder supplies the sequential gates.

9. A table of data.
10. (geology) A geological matrix.
11. (archaeology and paleontology) The sediment surrounding and including the artifacts, features, and other materials at a site.
12. (analytical chemistry) The environment from which a given sample is taken.
13. (printing, historical) In hot metal typesetting, a mold for casting a letter.
14. (printing, historical) In printmaking, the plate or block used, with ink, to hold the image that makes up the print.

    Synonym: printing form

15. The cavity or mold in which anything is formed.
16. (dyeing) The five simple colours (black, white, blue, red, and yellow) from which all the others are formed.
17. (material science) A binding agent of composite materials, e.g. resin in fibreglass.

• (mathematics): array, table
• (table of data): array, grid, spreadsheet, table
• (computing): array

Latin matrix

• IPA^(key): [ˈmatrɪks]

matrix m

1. (biology) matrix

• See mater

• matrix in Akademický slovník cizích slov, 1995, at prirucka.ujc.cas.cz

matrix

1. (mathematics) matrix

Ultimately from Latin mātrīx. Cognate with matrijs. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmaːtrɪks/

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• Hyphenation: ma‧trix

matrix f (plural matrices or matrixen, diminutive matrixje n)

1. (mathematics) matrix (type of array)

• eenheidsmatrix
• identiteitsmatrix

From māter (“mother”).

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈmaː.triːks/

mātrīx f (genitive mātrīcis); third declension

1. uterus, womb
2. dam (non-human female animal kept for breeding)
3. source, origin
4. list, register

Third-declension noun.

• mātrīcālis
• mātrīcula

see māter

• matrix in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• matrix in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• matrix in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

matrix f (uncountable)

1. Matrix
   1. fictional machine system
   2. any illusory system