All that openeth the matrix is mine.
Ex. xxxiv. 19.
2. Hence, that which gives form or origin to anything; as: (a) (Mech.)
The cavity in which anything is formed, and which gives it shape; a
die; a mold, as for the face of a type. (b) (Min.) The earthy or stony
substance in which metallic ores or crystallized minerals are found;
the gangue. (c) pl. (Dyeing) The five simple colors, black, white,
blue, red, and yellow, of which all the rest are composed.
3. (Biol.) The lifeless portion of tissue, either animal or vegetable,
situated between the cells; the intercellular substance.
4. (Math.) A rectangular arrangement of symbols in rows and columns.
The symbols may express quantities or operations.
Ma"tron (?), n. [F. matrone, L. matrona, fr. mater mother. See Mother.]
1. A wife or a widow, especially, one who has borne children; a woman
of staid or motherly manners.
Your wives, your daughters, Your matrons, and your maids.
Shak.
Grave from her cradle, insomuch that she was a matron before she
was a mother.
Fuller.
2. A housekeeper; esp., a woman who manages the domestic economy of a
public instution; a head nurse in a hospital; as, the matron of a
school or hospital.
Jury of matrons (Law), a jury of experienced women called to determine
the question of pregnancy when set up in bar of execution, and for
other cognate purposes.
Mat"ron*age (?), n. 1. The state of a matron.