matrices

1. the cultural, social, or political environment in which something develops.

   Oxbridge was the matrix of the ideology

2. a mass of fine-grained rock in which gems, crystals, or fossils are embedded.

   nodules of secondary limestone set in a matrix of porous dolomite

   such fossils will often be partly concealed by matrix

3. a mould in which something, such as a record or printing type, is cast or shaped.

   her two duets with Isobel Baillie were never issued and the matrices were destroyed

4. a rectangular array of quantities or expressions in rows and columns that is treated as a single entity and manipulated according to particular rules.

   this formula applies for all square matrices

5. an organizational structure in which two or more lines of command, responsibility, or communication may run through the same individual.

   matrix structures are said to foster greater flexibility

late Middle English (in the sense ‘womb’): from Latin, ‘breeding female’, later ‘womb’, from mater, matr- ‘mother’.