determinants

noun

1. 1

   A determining factor; an element that determines the nature of something.

2. 2

   A scalar that encodes certain characteristics of a given transformation matrix; the unique scalar function over square matrices which is distributive over matrix multiplication, multilinear in the rows and columns, and takes the value 1 for the unit matrix; abbreviated as: det.

3. 3

   A substance that causes a cell to adopt a particular fate.