MEANING
1. A surrounding system of conditions within which something grows or develops.
2. A rectangular arrangement of numbers or symbols treated as one unit for calculations.
3. A substance or material within which other components are enclosed or embedded.
Use it for
situating an idea within its formative conditions; describing an environment that enables institutional development; connecting cultural change with its surrounding social systemSeparates a developmental setting, a numerical arrangement, and a surrounding physical material. Academic functions: Theory / Conceptual Language, Research / Methodology.
Words that belong together
- cultural matrix
- social matrix
- matrix of institutions
On the page
The historian places the reform within a matrix of local associations and economic pressures.
The essay describes the cultural matrix in which the genre’s conventions emerged.
The model uses a transition matrix to represent movement between employment states.
Each column of the data matrix records one measured variable, while each row represents an observation.
The archaeological account distinguishes the fossil from the surrounding rock matrix.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- matrix
Usage notes
Count noun for an arrangement or setting: matrix, matrices; matrixes is an accepted alternative in some uses. Material matrix may be countable or uncountable. Use matrices as the canonical plural. Register: formal. Commonness: moderately common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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