Cement vs. Matrix — What's the Difference?

A cement is a binder, a substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel (aggregate) together.

The cultural, social, or political environment in which something develops

A building material made by grinding calcined limestone and clay to a fine powder, which can be mixed with water and poured to set as a solid mass or used as an ingredient in making mortar or concrete.

A mass of fine-grained rock in which gems, crystals, or fossils are embedded

Portland cement.

A mould in which something, such as a record or printing type, is cast or shaped

Concrete.

A rectangular array of quantities or expressions in rows and columns that is treated as a single entity and manipulated according to particular rules

A substance that hardens to act as an adhesive; glue.

An organizational structure in which two or more lines of command, responsibility, or communication may run through the same individual

Something that serves to bind or unite

A situation or surrounding substance within which something else originates, develops, or is contained

(Geology) A chemically precipitated substance that binds particles of clastic rocks.

The womb.

(Dentistry) A substance used for filling cavities or anchoring crowns, inlays, or other restorations.

The formative cells or tissue of a specialized structure such as a hair, nail, claw, or tooth.

Variant of cementum.

See ground substance.

To join or cover with cement

The solid matter in which a fossil or crystal is embedded.

To make binding; establish or strengthen

Groundmass.

To become cemented.

A mold or die.

A powdered substance produced by firing (calcining) calcium carbonate (limestone) and clay that develops strong cohesive properties when mixed with water. The main ingredient of concrete.

The principal metal in an alloy, as the iron in steel.

(uncountable) The paste-like substance resulting from mixing such a powder with water, or the rock-like substance that forms when it dries.

A binding substance, as cement in concrete.

(uncountable) Any material with strong adhesive and cohesive properties such as binding agents, glues, grout.

(Mathematics) A rectangular array of numeric or algebraic quantities subject to mathematical operations.

(figurative) A bond of union; that which unites firmly, as persons in friendship or in society.

Something resembling such an array, as in the regular formation of elements into columns and rows.

(anatomy) The layer of bone investing the root and neck of a tooth; cementum.

(Computers) The network of intersections between input and output leads in a computer, functioning as an encoder or a decoder.

(transitive) To affix with cement.

A mold used in stereotyping and designed to receive positive impressions of type or illustrations from which metal plates can be cast. Also called mat2.

(transitive) To overlay or coat with cement.

A metal plate used for casting typefaces.

To unite firmly or closely.

An electroplated impression of a phonograph record used to make duplicate records.

(figuratively) To make permanent.

A table of data.

Any substance used for making bodies adhere to each other, as mortar, glue, etc.

The cavity or mold in which anything is formed.

A kind of calcined limestone, or a calcined mixture of clay and lime, for making mortar which will harden under water.

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

Bond of union; that which unites firmly, as persons in friendship, or men in society.

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

The layer of bone investing the root and neck of a tooth; - called also cementum.

(biology) Part of the mitochondrion.

To unite or cause to adhere by means of a cement.

(biology) The medium in which bacteria are cultured.

To unite firmly or closely.

A term describing a controlled environment or situation in which people act or behave in ways that conform to roles pre-determined by a powerful person(s) who decides how the world is supposed to function (as if the world is but virtual reality and people but brains in a vat).

To overlay or coat with cement; as, to cement a cellar bottom.

(mathematics) A rectangular arrangement of numbers or terms having various uses such as transforming coordinates in geometry, solving systems of linear equations in linear algebra and representing graphs in graph theory.

To become cemented or firmly united; to cohere.

(computing) A two-dimensional array.

Concrete pavement is sometimes referred to as cement;

(electronics) A grid-like arrangement of electronic components, especially one intended for information coding, decoding or storage.

A building material that is a powder made of a mixture of calcined limestone and clay; used with water and sand or gravel to make concrete and mortar

(geology) A geological matrix.

Something that hardens to act as adhesive material

(archaeology and paleontology) The sediment surrounding and including the artifacts, features, and other materials at a site.

Any of various materials used by dentists to fill cavities in teeth

(analytical chemistry) The environment from which a given sample is taken.

A specialized bony substance covering the root of a tooth

In hot metal typesetting, a mold for casting a letter.

Make fast as if with cement;

In printmaking, the plate or block used, with ink, to hold the image that makes up the print.

Cover or coat with cement

(dyeing) The five simple colours (black, white, blue, red, and yellow) from which all the others are formed.

Bind or join with or as if with cement

(material science) A binding agent of composite materials, e.g. resin in fibreglass.

The womb.

The womb.

That which gives form or origin to anything

The lifeless portion of tissue, either animal or vegetable, situated between the cells; the intercellular substance.

A rectangular arrangement of symbols in rows and columns. The symbols may express quantities or operations.

A rectangular array of elements (or entries) set out by rows and columns

An enclosure within which something originates or develops (from the Latin for womb)

The body substance in which tissue cells are embedded

The formative tissue at the base of a nail

Mold used in the production of phonograph records, type, or other relief surface