matrix

plural matrices · plural matrixes · alternative obsolete matrice · alternative capitalized Matrix

1. The cavity or mold in which anything is formed.
2. archaicThe 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

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   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.

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   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. biologyThe material or tissue in which more specialized structures are embedded.
5. biologyAn extracellular matrix, the material or tissue between the cells of animals or plants.
6. biologyPart of the mitochondrion.
7. biologyThe medium in which bacteria are cultured.
8. A table of data.

   Synonyms: array, grid, spreadsheet, table

9. graph theoryA 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.

   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.

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   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

   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

   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

10. computerA two-dimensional array.
11. figurativelyslangliteratureAlternative letter-case form of Matrix; a controlled environment or situation in which people behave in ways that conform to pre-determined roles.

    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

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    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

12. businessA grid-like arrangement of electronic components, especially one intended for information coding, decoding or storage.

    Diode matrix is the most fundamental of all ROM structure.

    2002, B. Somantathan Nair, Digital Electronics and Logic Design

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    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

13. geographyA geological matrix.
14. archaeologyThe sediment surrounding and including the artifacts, features, and other materials at a site.
15. analytical chemistryThe environment from which a given sample is taken.
16. historicalmediaIn hot metal typesetting, a mold for casting a letter.
17. historicalmediaIn printmaking, the plate or block used, with ink, to hold the image that makes up the print.

    Synonyms: printing form

18. businessThe five simple colours (black, white, blue, red, and yellow) from which all the others are formed.
19. materialscienceA binding agent of composite materials, e.g. resin in fibreglass.
20. human sciencesMatrix clause is a clause that has another (subordinate) clause embedded within it.

alternative matrix

1. literatureA simulated reality to which many humans are connected. In some works created by sentient machines to subdue humans.

   2017, Chuck Lorre Productions #557 (post-episode text), "The Recollection Dissipation", The Big Bang Theory Recent events have made it abundantly clear that the fabric of the universe is unraveling. Reality as you know it, the matrix if you will, is dissolving.

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   “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 mathematical concepts … A graphic representation of data abstracted from the banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity. […]”

   1984, William Gibson, chapter 3, in Neuromancer (Sprawl; book 1), New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 51

   Now some folks want to claim that we're in the Matrix right now (or that the physical world is an illusion).

   2009 September 23, possum, “Re: In which the Trollpa evinzes hizzelf aza profezzional nuizzance”, in talk.religion.buddhism (Usenet), message-ID <64c3fc87-b24c-4339-9e04-b4ecaa1497f7@a6g2000vbp.googlegroups.com>

2. figurativelyA 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”.

   2022 January 27, William Costa, “German-speaking Covid denialists seek to build paradise in Paraguay”, in The Guardian