matrix
Definitions
A rectangular array of numbers, symbols, or expressions arranged in rows and columns
矩阵
An environment or structure in which something develops, forms, or is contained
母体，基体，孕育环境
A mold or surrounding mass within which something is embedded or shaped
模子，基质
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedFrom Latin mātrīx, 'a breeding female,' then 'the womb' — built on mater (mother). The womb is the place where life is generated and held, so matrix came to mean 'the surrounding stuff in which something grows or is embedded': the matrix of a rock, a cultural matrix. Mathematicians borrowed that 'grid you embed values in' image for the matrix of numbers. Every sense is still the womb: a generating ground that holds and shapes what's inside.
Root mater still carries 6 more wordsWhy It Means This
The jump from 'womb' to 'grid of numbers' looks wild, but it runs through one idea: a holding ground. mātrīx (womb) is where something is generated and contained. A mineral matrix holds embedded crystals; a cultural matrix holds a developing movement; a mathematical matrix holds values in fixed positions. The womb image of 'a structured space that contains and arranges' never left.
Example Sentences
- 1.
The engineers multiplied two matrices to solve the system.
- 2.
The city became the cultural matrix for a new art movement.
- 3.
Tiny crystals were embedded in the rock's hard matrix.