material

Etymology

From Middle English material, from Late Latin māteriālis, from Latin māteria (“wood, material, substance”), from māter (“mother”). Displaced native Middle English andweorc, andwork (“material, matter”) (from Old English andweorc (“matter, substance, material”)). Doublet of materiel.

adj

1. Having to do with matter; consisting of matter.
   This compound has a number of interesting material properties.
   the material elements of the universe 1913, Alfred Bowyer Sharpe, Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Evil
2. Worldly, as opposed to spiritual.
   Don't let material concerns get in the way of living a happy life.
3. (law, accounting) Significant.
   You've made several material contributions to this project.
   This is the most material fact in this lawsuit.
   discourse, which was always material, not trifling

noun

1. Matter which may be shaped or manipulated, particularly in making something.
   Asphalt, composed of oil and sand, is a widely used material for roads.
   In trumpets for assisting the hearing, all reverbation of the trumpet must be avoided. It must be made thick, of the least elastic materials, and covered with cloth externally. For all reverbation lasts for a short time, and produces new sounds which mix with those which are coming in. 1820, Encyclopaedia Britannica; Or A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature, 6th edition, volume 20, Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Company, page 501
   Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are […] . (Common gem materials not addressed in this article include amber, amethyst, chalcedony, garnet, lazurite, malachite, opals, peridot, rhodonite, spinel, tourmaline, turquoise and zircon.) 2012-03, Lee A. Groat, “Gemstones”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 128
2. Text written for a specific purpose.
   We were a warm-up act at the time; we didn't have enough original material to headline.
3. A sample or specimens for study.
4. Cloth to be made into a garment. Fabric.
   You'll need about a yard of material to make this.
5. A person, or people collectively, who are qualified for a certain position or activity.
   boy/girlfriend material
   marriage material
   We have lots of presidential material in various public offices.
   Before she married her husband, Kiersten Little considered him ideal father material. 2021-11-20, Alex Williams, “To Breed or Not to Breed?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
6. Related data of various kinds, especially if collected as the basis for a document or book.
   Now we are liberal with our innermost secrets, spraying them into the public ether with a generosity our forebears could not have imagined. Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet. 2013-06-14, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama's once hip brand is now tainted”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 18
7. The substance that something is made or composed of.
   As we age, the major arteries of our bodies frequently become thickened with plaque, a fatty material with an oatmeal-like consistency that builds up along the inner lining of blood vessels. 2013 July-August, Stephen P. Lownie, David M. Pelz, “Stents to Prevent Stroke”, in American Scientist
8. (graphical user interface) An element of a design language associated with a certain style of rendering on the display.
9. (chess) All of a player's pieces and pawns on the chessboard.

verb

1. (obsolete, transitive) To form from matter; to materialize.