material

comparative more material · superlative most material

1. Of, relating to, or consisting of matter, especially physical.

   This compound has a number of interesting material properties.

   1 more example

   the material elements of the universe

   1913, Alfred Bowyer Sharpe, Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Evil

2. Of, relating to, or affecting physical well-being; corporeal; bodily.

   material needs

   Antonyms: spiritual

3. human sciencesOf or relating to the matter of reasoning, as distinguished from the form of it, especially empirical.

   material cause

   1 more example

   the material aspect of being

4. especiallylawHaving real importance or great consequences; significant; substantial.

   found a material difference between two things

   4 more examples

   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

   1685 March 19 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for 10 March 1685]”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […]; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, […], published 1819, →OCLC

   I shall, in the account of simple ideas, set down only such as are most material to our present purpose.

   1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter 2, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC, book I, page 3

   Antonyms: immaterial

5. Relating to or concerned with what is purely physical rather than intellectual or spiritual, especially excessively so; materialistic.

   the material world

   3 more examples

   interested only in material progress

   Don't let material concerns get in the way of living a happy life.

   'Cause we are living in a material world / And I am a material girl / You know that we are living in a material world / And I am a material girl

   1984, Peter Brown and Robert Rans, “Material Girl”, in Like a Virgin, performed by Madonna

6. obsoleteFull of substance or otherwise meaning.

   Synonyms: bulky, massive, solid, meaty

7. obsoleteIn an important degree.

plural materials

1. countableuncountableAny matter (as metal, wood, plastic, fiber, etc.) from which the whole or the greater part of something physical (as a machine, tool, building, fabric, etc.) is made.

   Asphalt, composed of oil and sand, is a widely used material for roads.

   2 more examples

   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 March 28, Lee A. Groat, “Gemstones”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 128

2. collectivecountablesometimesuncountablepreceded by a qualifying wordA person, or people collectively, who are qualified or suited for a certain position or activity.

   marriage material

   3 more examples

   boy/girlfriend material

   We have lots of presidential material in various public offices.

   Before she married her husband, Kiersten Little considered him ideal father material.

   2021 November 20, Alex Williams, “To Breed or Not to Breed?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   Synonyms: appoint

3. countablepluraluncountableusuallyApparatus for doing or making something.
4. countableuncountableSomething (as data, observations, perceptions or ideas) that may be incorporated, elaborated or otherwise reworked into a finished form or new form, or may serve as the basis for arriving at interpretations, judgments or conclusions.

   teaching materials

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   We were a warm-up act at the time; we didn't have enough original material to headline.

   With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get[…]

   1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page vii

   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 June 14, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama's once hip brand is now tainted]”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 18

5. countableuncountableFabric, which can be made into a garments, curtains, etc; especially, woven fabric (cloth).

   a piece of material

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   You'll need about a yard of material to make this.

   Mind you, clothes were clothes in those days. There was a great deal of them, lavish both in material and in workmanship.

   1977, Agatha Christie, An Autobiography, part II, London: Collins, →ISBN, page 4

6. countableuncountableThe elements, constituents or substance of which something physical or non-physical composed of or can be made of.

   The material of his character was basically good.

   3 more examples

   The solid materials of the mixture will settle to the bottom of the container.

   […] I beleeve that as they ſay of the materialls of the world, they would ſoone diſolve if the ſoule of it were taken away […]

   1642, Daniel Rogers […], Naaman the Syrian, his Disease and Cvre, London: Th. Harper for Philip Nevil, unnumbered page

   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

7. countableuncountablecomputingAn element of a design language associated with a certain style of rendering on the display.
8. countableuncountableboard gamesAll of a player's pieces and pawns on the chessboard, excluding the king.
9. IrelandarchaiccountableuncountableThe ingredients for making whisky punch.

   Synonyms: matts

10. countablerareuncountableThe materiel of an army.
11. countableobsoleteuncountableThings that are material.

present singular third person materials · US participle present materialing · UK participle present materialling · US participle past materialed · US past materialed · UK participle past materialled · UK past materialled

1. obsoletetransitiveTo form from matter; to materialize.

   I believe that the whole frame of a beast doth perish, and is left in the same state after death as before it was materialled unto life.

   1642, [Thomas Browne], “(please specify the page)”, in Religio Medici, London: […] Andrew Crooke, →OCLC