matrix

See also: Matrix and mátrix

English

Alternative forms

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.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation, General American)
    • IPA(key): /ˈmeɪ.tɹɪks/, enPR: māʹtrĭks
      • Audio (US):(file)
    • IPA(key): /ˈmæt.ɹɪks/, enPR: mătʹrĭks
  • (Australia) IPA(key): /ˈmæɪ.tɹɪks/
  • (India) IPA(key): /mæːʈ.rɪks/, /meːʈ.rɪks/
  • Rhymes: -eɪtɹɪks, -ætɹɪks
  • Rhymes: -ɪks

Noun

matrix (plural matrices or matrixes)

  1. The cavity or mold in which anything is formed.
  2. (archaic) The uterus.
    • 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:
      upon conception the inward orifice of the matrix exactly closeth, so that it commonly admitteth nothing after […]
    • 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:
      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 […]
  3. The metaphorical place where something is made, formed, or given birth.
    • 1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., published 1921, page 172:
      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.
  4. (biology) The material or tissue in which more specialized structures are embedded.
  5. (biology) An extracellular matrix, the material or tissue between the cells of animals or plants.
  6. (biology) Part of the mitochondrion.
  7. (biology) The medium in which bacteria are cultured.
  8. A table of data.
  9. (mathematics, graph theory) 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, Paperback edition, Cambridge University Press, published 1990, 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[1], CRC Press (Chapman & Hall/CRC), page 64:
      Check that the 𝒜(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.
    • 2019 June 24, Juan Triana, “Negafibonacci Numbers via Matrices”, in Bulletin of TICMI‎[2], volume 23, number 1, →ISSN, archived from the original on 13 July 2019, Introduction, page 1:
      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 […]
  10. (computer science) A two-dimensional array.
  11. (slang, figurative, science fiction) Alternative letter-case form of Matrix; a controlled environment or situation in which people behave in ways that conform to pre-determined roles.
    • 1984, William Gibson, Neuromancer (Sprawl; book 1), New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 5:
      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.
    • 2023 October 28, Jemima Kelly, “Back to school”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 20:
      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.
  12. (electronics) A grid-like arrangement of electronic components, especially one intended for information coding, decoding or storage.
    • 1949, Proceedings of the Association of American Railroads:
      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.
    • 1959, John Millar Carroll, Modern Transistor Circuits:
      The transistor matrix in the encoder supplies the sequential gates.
    • 1962, Burroughs Corporation, Digital Computer Principles:
      A transistor-diode matrix is composed of vertical and horizontal wires with a transistor at each intersection.
    • 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.
    • 2002, B. Somantathan Nair, Digital Electronics and Logic Design:
      Diode matrix is the most fundamental of all ROM structure.
  13. (geology) A geological matrix.
  14. (archaeology, paleontology) The sediment surrounding and including the artifacts, features, and other materials at a site.
  15. (analytical chemistry) The environment from which a given sample is taken.
  17. (printing, historical) In hot metal typesetting, a mold for casting a letter.
  18. (printing, historical) In printmaking, the plate or block used, with ink, to hold the image that makes up the print.
    Synonym: printing form
  19. (dyeing) The five simple colours (black, white, blue, red, and yellow) from which all the others are formed.
  20. (material science) A binding agent of composite materials, e.g. resin in fibreglass.
  21. (linguistics) Matrix clause is a clause that has another (subordinate) clause embedded within it.

Synonyms

Hypernyms

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked‌: "computing: circuitry inside a keyboard"
Translations

References

Czech

Etymology

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr
Proto-Italic *mātēr
Latin māter
Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr
Proto-Indo-European *-is
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-ih₂
Proto-Indo-European *-trih₂
Proto-Italic *-trīks
Latin -īx
Latin matrixder.
Czech matrix

    Derived from Latin matrix.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): [ˈmatrɪks]

    Noun

    matrix m inan

    1. (biology) matrix

    Declension

    Declension of matrix (hard masculine inanimate)
    singular plural
    nominative matrix matrixy
    genitive matrixu matrixů
    dative matrixu matrixům
    accusative matrix matrixy
    vocative matrixe matrixy
    locative matrixu matrixech
    instrumental matrixem matrixy

    Further reading

    Danish

    Noun

    matrix

    1. (mathematics) matrix

    Declension

    Declension of matrix
    common
    gender     		singular plural
    indefinite definite indefinite definite
    nominative matrix matricen
    matrixen     		matricer
    matrixer     		matricerne
    matrixerne
    genitive matrixs matricens
    matrixens     		matricers
    matrixers     		matricernes
    matrixernes

    Dutch

    Etymology

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

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈmaːtrɪks/
    • Audio:(file)
    • Hyphenation: ma‧trix

    Noun

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

    1. (mathematics) matrix (type of array)

    Derived terms

    Latin

    Etymology

    Etymology tree
    Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr
    Proto-Italic *mātēr
    Latin māter
    Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr
    Proto-Indo-European *-is
    Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
    Proto-Indo-European *-ih₂
    Proto-Indo-European *-trih₂
    Proto-Italic *-trīks
    Latin -īx
    Latin mātrīx

      From māter + -īx (“feminine noun ending”).

      Pronunciation

      Noun

      mātrīx f (genitive mātrīcis); third declension

      1. uterus, womb
        Synonyms: uterus, uterum
      2. dam (non-human female animal kept for breeding)
      3. source, origin
      4. list, register
      5. (Mathematical) matrix

      Declension

      Third-declension noun.

      singular plural
      nominative mātrīx mātrīcēs
      genitive mātrīcis mātrīcum
      dative mātrīcī mātrīcibus
      accusative mātrīcem mātrīcēs
      ablative mātrīce mātrīcibus
      vocative mātrīx mātrīcēs

      Derived terms

      Descendants

      • Aromanian: mãtricã
      • Old French: marriz
      • Old Spanish: madriz
      • Romanian: mătrice
      • Sardinian: matriche, madrighe
      • Sicilian: matrici

      Borrowings:

      References

      • “matrix”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
      • "matrix", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
      • “matrix”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

      Middle English

      Noun

      matrix

      1. alternative form of matrice

      Polish

      Alternative forms

      • matriks

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /ˈma.triks/
      • Rhymes: -atriks
      • Syllabification: ma‧trix

      Etymology 1

        Unadapted borrowing from English Matrix. Doublet of matryca.

        Noun

        matrix m inan

        1. (science fiction, slang) Matrix (simulated reality to which many humans are connected; in some works, it is created by sentient machines to subdue humans)
        Declension
        Declension of matrix
        singular plural
        nominative matrix matriksy, matrixy
        genitive matriksa matriksów, matrixów
        dative matriksowi, matrixowi matriksom, matrixom
        accusative matrix matriksy, matrixy
        instrumental matriksem, matrixem matriksami, matrixami
        locative matriksie, matrixie matriksach, matrixach
        vocative matriksie, matrixie matriksy, matrixy

        Etymology 2

        Etymology tree
        Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr
        Proto-Italic *mātēr
        Latin māter
        Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr
        Proto-Indo-European *-is
        Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
        Proto-Indo-European *-ih₂
        Proto-Indo-European *-trih₂
        Proto-Italic *-trīks
        Latin -īx
        Latin mātrīxubor.
        Polish matrix

          Unadapted borrowing from Latin mātrīx. Doublet of matryca.

          Noun

          matrix m inan

          1. low-melting alloy of bismuth with lead (28–29%), tin (14–15%), and antimony (8.5–10.5%)
          Declension
          Declension of matrix
          singular
          nominative matrix
          genitive matrixa
          dative matriksowi, matrixowi
          accusative matrix
          instrumental matriksem, matrixem
          locative matriksie, matrixie
          vocative matriksie, matrixie

          Noun

          matrix f (indeclinable)

          1. (cytology) intercellular substance, matrix (body substance in which tissue cells are embedded)

          Further reading

          • “matrix”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎[3] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
          • “matrix”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎[4] (in Polish)
          • matrix in PWN's encyclopedia

          Portuguese

          Etymology

            Unadapted borrowing from English Matrix. Doublet of matriz.

            Pronunciation

            • (Brazil) IPA(key): /maˈtɾiks/

            Noun

            matrix f (uncountable)

            1. Matrix
              1. fictional machine system
              2. any illusory system
            This page is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.