matrix

The cavity or mold in which anything is formed.

The womb.

upon conception the inward orifice of the matrix exactly closeth, so that it commonly admitteth nothing after […]

In very rare cases, when the matrix just goes on pegging away automatically, the doctor can take advantage of that and ease out the second brat who then can be considered to be, say, three minutes younger […]

The metaphorical place where something is made, formed, or given birth.

When it is remembered that ritual dancing was the matrix out of which the Drama sprang, and further that the drama in its inception (as still to-day in India) was an affair of religion and was acted in, or in connection with, the Temples, it becomes easier to understand how all this mass of ceremonial sacrifices, expiations, initiations, Sun and Nature festivals, eucharistic and orgiastic communions and celebrations, mystery-plays, dramatic representations, myths and legends, etc. [...] have practically sprung from the same root: a root deep and necessary in the psychology of Man.

The material or tissue in which more specialized structures are embedded.

An extracellular matrix, the material or tissue between the cells of animals or plants.

A simulated reality to which many humans are connected. In some works created by sentient machines to subdue humans.

“The matrix has its roots in primitive arcade games,” said the voice-over, “in early graphics programs and military experimentation with cranial jacks.” […] “Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation, by children being taught mathematical concepts … A graphic representation of data abstracted from the banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity. […]”

Now some folks want to claim that we're in the Matrix right now (or that the physical world is an illusion).

A social institution or apparatus perceived as largely deceptive or illusory.

They claimed that Paraguay’s accommodating immigration laws have proved attractive to Germans who want to “escape the matrix” and flee the “deep state and one world order”.