matrix: Meaning and Definition of

ma•trix

1. something that constitutes the place or point from which something else originates, takes form, or develops: The Greco-Roman world was the matrix for Western civilization.
2. a formative part, as the corium beneath a nail.
1. the intercellular substance of a tissue.
2. Seeground substance.
4. the fine-grained portion of a rock in which coarser crystals or rock fragments are embedded.
5. fine material, as cement, in which lumps of coarser material, as of an aggregate, are embedded.
6. gangue.
7. a crystalline phase in an alloy in which other phases are embedded.
8. a mold for casting typefaces.
9. master (def. 18).
10. (in a press or stamping machine) a multiple die or perforated block on which the material to be formed is placed.
11. a rectangular array of numbers, algebraic symbols, or mathematical functions, esp. when such arrays are added and multiplied according to certain rules.
12. a rectangular display of features characterizing a set of linguistic items, esp. phonemes, usually presented as a set of columns of plus or minus signs specifying the presence or absence of each feature for each item.
13. Also calleda mold made by electroforming from a disk recording, from which other disks may be pressed.
14. the womb.