immaterial

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*méh₂tēr
2. Latin · derived fromim-
3. Medieval Latin · derived fromimmāteriālis“not material”
4. Middle French · derived fromimmateriel“not material”
5. Middle English · inherited fromimmaterial
6. English todayimmaterial

The adjective is derived from Late Middle English immaterial, inmateriall (“incorporeal; spiritual”), from Middle French immateriel (“not material”) (modern French immatériel), and from its etymon Medieval Latin immāteriālis (“not material”), from Latin im- (a variant of in- (prefix meaning ‘not’)) + māteriālis (“made of matter, material”) (from māteria (“matter, substance, material”) (from māter, from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr, + ia) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship)). The English word is analysable as im- + material. The noun is derived from the adjective.

Words from the same roots