ma|trix

ma|trix «MAY trihks, MAT rihks», noun, plural -tri|ces or -trix|es, verb, -trixed or trixt, -trix|ing.

–n.

1. something that gives origin or form to something enclosed within it: a) a mold for a casting. b) the rock in which crystallized minerals, gems, or fossils are embedded: »

By etching away the limestone matrix in dilute acid, the silicified fossils, which are not affected by the acid, are freed from the rock (Raymond Cecil Moore).

c) Figurative: »

The tradition of the Renaissance still hung about Marx and Engels: they had only partly emerged from its matrix (Edmund Wilson).

2. Printing. a mold for casting type faces.

3. = womb. (Cf. ↑womb)

4. a) Anatomy. the formative part of an organ, such as the skin beneath a fingernail or toenail. b) Biology. the intercellular substance of a tissue.

5. Mathematics. a set of quantities in a rectangular array, subject to operations such as multiplication or inversion according to specified rules.

6. Statistics. an ordered table or two-dimensional array of variables: »

Dr. Warner's group has…set up “matrix”—a device for statistical analysis—that comprises some thirty-five different disease entities and fifty-seven symptoms known to be associated with congenital defects (New York Times).

7. an array of circuit elements designed to perform a particular function in a computer: »

The diodes on each character unit are connected to a matrix of seven horizontal wires…In this way, any one diode can be switched on individually by applying a voltage across selected horizontal wires and vertical wires in the matrix (Science Journal).

–v.i., v.t.

to arrange or organize in a matrix: »

The four channels can be recorded separately as four tracks on a disc, or any one of a number of matrixing techniques can be used to combine two or more channels on a single track (New Scientist and Science Journal).

╂[< Latin mātrīx, -īcis womb, breeding animal < māter, mātris mother]