matrix

American  

[mey-triks, ma-] / ˈmeɪ trɪks, ˈmæ- /

noun

matrices, plural matrixes plural

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. Anatomy. a formative part, as the corium beneath a nail.

3. Biology.

   1. the intercellular substance of a tissue.

   2. ground substance.

4. Petrology. 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. Mining. gangue.

7. Metallurgy. a crystalline phase in an alloy in which other phases are embedded.

8. Printing. a mold for casting typefaces.

9. master.

10. Digital Technology a grid formed by perpendicular intersections that define potential space that may be filled, as by pixels on a screen, ink in dot-matrix printing, or material in 3D printing.

11. (in a press or stamping machine) a multiple die or perforated block on which the material to be formed is placed.

12. Mathematics. a rectangular array of numbers, algebraic symbols, or mathematical functions, especially when such arrays are added and multiplied according to certain rules.

13. Linguistics. a rectangular display of features characterizing a set of linguistic items, especially phonemes, usually presented as a set of columns of plus or minus signs specifying the presence or absence of each feature for each item.

14. Also called master.  a mold made by electroforming from a disk recording, from which other disks may be pressed.

15. Archaic. the womb.

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matrix British  

/ ˈmæ-, ˈmeɪtrɪks /

noun

1. a substance, situation, or environment in which something has its origin, takes form, or is enclosed

2. anatomy the thick tissue at the base of a nail from which a fingernail or toenail develops

3. the intercellular substance of bone, cartilage, connective tissue, etc

4. 1. the rock material in which fossils, pebbles, etc, are embedded

   2. the material in which a mineral is embedded; gangue

5. printing

   1. a metal mould for casting type

   2. Sometimes shortened to: mat.  a papier-mâché or plastic mould impressed from the forme and used for stereotyping

6. (formerly) a mould used in the production of gramophone records. It is obtained by electrodeposition onto the master

7. a bed of perforated material placed beneath a workpiece in a press or stamping machine against which the punch operates

8. metallurgy

   1. the shaped cathode used in electroforming

   2. the metal constituting the major part of an alloy

   3. the soft metal in a plain bearing in which the hard particles of surface metal are embedded

9. the main component of a composite material, such as the plastic in a fibre-reinforced plastic

10. maths a rectangular array of elements set out in rows and columns, used to facilitate the solution of problems, such as the transformation of coordinates. Usually indicated by parentheses: ( ) Compare determinant

11. linguistics the main clause of a complex sentence

12. computing a rectangular array of circuit elements usually used to generate one set of signals from another

13. obsolete the womb

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matrix Scientific  

/ mā′trĭks /

matrices plural

1. Geology The mineral grains of a rock in which fossils are embedded.

2. Biology The component of an animal or plant tissue that is outside the cells. Bone cells are embedded in a matrix of collagen fibers and mineral salts. Connective tissue consists of cells and extracellular fibers in a liquid called ground substance.

3. Biology Also called extracellular matrix

4. Mathematics A rectangular array of numeric or algebraic quantities subject to mathematical operations.

5. Anatomy The formative cells or tissue of a fingernail, toenail, or tooth.

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Usage

Plural word for matrix The plural form of matrix can be either matrices, pronounced [ mey-tri-seez ], or matrixes, but matrices is more widely used. The plural forms of several other singular words that end in -ix or -ex are also formed this same way, such as index/indices, appendix/appendices, and codex/codices.  Irregular nouns with plurals that are formed like matrices derive directly from their original pluralization in Latin. However, the standard English plural -es is often also acceptable for these terms, as in indexes and appendixes.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• matrices
  plural
• matrixes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of matrix

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English matris, matrix, from Latin mātrix “female animal kept for breeding, parent stem (of plants)” ( Late Latin: “register,” originally of such beasts), derivative of māter “mother”; see also mother ¹ ( def. )

Explanation

At an archaeological dig, the matrix is the soil surrounding the site. Biologists use the phrase "nuclear matrix" to refer to the material left behind after DNA is extracted from a cell's nucleus. A matrix is an environment or structure in which something originates or develops. Matrix, related to the Latin word for "mother," originally meant "pregnant animal" or "breeding female" and was later generalized to mean "womb." Today, matrix includes any nurturing or supportive setting or substance usually within the fields of math and the sciences — except in the cinematic trilogy starring Keanu Reeves, of course. Matrixes is an acceptable plural form, but you can use matrices if you want to show off your knowledge of Latin noun endings.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

matrix matrices matrixes

The sound system is handled by an L-Acoustics L-ISA 250-speaker matrix suspended dynamically behind a specialized acoustic fabric wall, material that Anadol loves to let people touch gently to confirm its woven tensile character.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026

Today they perform hundreds of septillions of matrix multiplications to power leading large language models.

From MarketWatch ● May 23, 2026

We have achieved something very important, which is recomposing our investment matrix.

From Barron's ● May 14, 2026

“In pursuit of perfect vision,” he concludes, “I had overlooked much in the visual matrix surrounding me every day.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026

She’d noted it in the corner with what appeared to be a matrix of some sort: GB AM 222 I was trying to figure out what it meant, when hinges squeaked.

From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin

Vermeer emerged from the doctrinal matrices of 17th-century Delft.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

Using multiple food matrices, they confirmed that the QuEChERS method produced highly consistent results.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 1, 2025

“Now, the authors say that spacetime coordinates are matrices, but what does that mean for the experimentally tested Standard Model whose quantum fields live in classical spacetime?”

From Salon ● Nov. 13, 2024

The findings showed that using different commercial matrices did not produce significant changes in the organoids' gene expression patterns or drug responses, but did have some effect on the tissues' growth rate.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 6, 2024

Proteins also form the structural components of the cell: filaments of hair, nails, cartilage, or the matrices that trap and tether cells.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

As its brain ages, different centers solidify communication networks and build vast matrixes that give us complex ways of processing the world.

From Salon ● Feb. 8, 2023

Then the Andy Grove law of large organizations is that all organizations eventually become matrixes.

From The Verge ● Nov. 16, 2021

Old rules that left the decision to “officer judgment” have been replaced by sometimes complex matrixes requiring police to weigh the severity of the crime being committed before they decide whether to give chase.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 26, 2015

"Such a printer will be capable of creating matrixes on which one can grow human tissue, organs as well as print bone implants."

From Reuters ● Mar. 24, 2014

They acted with utter confidence, because their Operational Net Assessment matrixes told them where Red Team’s vulnerabilities were, what Red Team’s next move was likely to be, and what Red Team’s range of options was.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell