Definition: matrix

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7 

matrix
     n 1: a rectangular array of elements (or entries) set out by rows
          and columns
     2: an enclosure within which something originates or develops
        (from the Latin for womb)
     3: the body substance in which tissue cells are embedded [syn:
        intercellular substance, ground substance]
     4: the formative tissue at the base of a nail
     5: mold used in the production of phonograph records, type, or
        other relief surface

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) 

Matrix \Ma"trix\, n.; pl. Matrices. [L., fr. mater mother. See
   Mother, and cf. Matrice.]
   1. (Anat.) The womb.

            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.

Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (2003-OCT-10) 

Matrix

   [FidoNet]  1. What the Opus BBS software and sysops call
   FidoNet.

   2. Fanciful term for a cyberspace expected to emerge from
   current networking experiments (see network, the).

   3. The totality of present-day computer networks.

   [Jargon File]

Source: Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) 

Matrix n. [FidoNet] 1. What the Opus BBS software and sysops call
   FidoNet. 2. Fanciful term for a cyberspace expected to emerge from
   current networking experiments (see the network). The name of the
   rather good 1999 cypherpunk movie "The Matrix" played on this sense,
   which however had been established for years before. 3. The totality of
   present-day computer networks (popularized in this sense by John
   Quarterman; rare outside academic literature).