The corpus record — Latin

matrix

matrix · f

a mother

Generated live from the audited Latin corpus — every figure on this page is a database query, not prose from memory.

Where it lives

De Patientia 1 · 2.21/10k
De Fuga in Persecutione 1 · 1.88/10k
Adversus Hermogenem 2 · 1.8/10k
De Virginibus Velandis 1 · 1.79/10k
Adversus Valentinianos 1 · 1.57/10k
Res Rustica, Books I-IX 12 · 1.52/10k
De Anima 3 · 1.26/10k
De Praescriptionibus Hereticorum 1 · 1.2/10k
De Carne Christi 1 · 1.05/10k
Apologeticum 2 · 1/10k
Adversus Judaeos Liber 1 · 0.89/10k
De Carnis Resurrectione 2 · 0.88/10k

Densest 12 of 17 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

mātrix — Lewis & Short

mātrix, īcis, f.id.,

I a mother in respect to propagation (in lit. signif. not used of women).

I Lit., a breeding-animal: of breeding-cows, Varr. R. R. 2, 5, 12; of breeding-ewes, Col. 7, 3, 12; of laying-hens, id. 8, 2, 6; 8, 5, 11.—

B Transf.

1 Of plants, the parent-stem, Suet. Aug. 94.—

2 The womb, matrix (late Lat.): matricis dolor, Veg. Vet. 2, 17, 5; Sen. Contr. 2, 13, 6.—

3 A public register, list, roll: in matricibus beneficiariorum, Tert. Fug. in Persec. 12.—

II Trop., a source, origin, cause (cf. mater, II.; eccl. Lat.): Eva matrix generis feminini, the progenitress, Tert. Virg. Vel. 5: primordialis lex data Adae, quasi matrix omnium praeceptorum Dei, id. adv. Jud. 2; id. adv. Haer. 21: matrix et origo cunctorum, id. adv. Valent. 7.—As an appellation of Venus, Inscr. Orell, 1373.

In the wild

matricibus Tertullian, De Praescriptionibus Hereticorum 21
matrices Columella, Res Rustica, Books I-IX 8.14.10
matricem Tertullian, De Anima 23
matrix Tertullian, Adversus Hermogenem 16
matrix Tertullian, De Patientia 5
matrix Tertullian, Apologeticum 21.12

6 of 35 attestations shown.

Where it came from

Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine Treated in Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine s.v. matrix (scan p. 414; entry #6626).

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Latin text and lemmatization derived from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit), CC BY-SA 4.0. Lewis & Short (public domain) via Perseus. This derived data is shared under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 license.