
conformable,
adj. (of a sequence of matrices) related so that the number of elements in each row of the first matrix is equal to the number of elements in each column of the second (that is, the number of columns of the first equals the number of rows of the second), and so on, so that they may be multiplied in that order. For example, the matrices
and
may be multiplied in that order, since the inner product of the rows of A with the columns of B is well-defined. However, B is not conformable with A, since the rows of B and the columns of A have different numbers of elements, and so their inner products are not well-defined.
and
may be multiplied in that order, since the inner product of the rows of A with the columns of B is well-defined. However, B is not conformable with A, since the rows of B and the columns of A have different numbers of elements, and so their inner products are not well-defined.