Material

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: ma=te=ri=al

CIDE DICTIONARY

Material, a. [L. materialis, fr. materia stuff, matter: cf. F. matériel. See Matter, and cf. MatÉriel.].

•  Consisting of matter; not spiritual; corporeal; physical; as, material substance or bodies.  [1913 Webster]

  "The material elements of the universe."  [1913 Webster]
•  Pertaining to, or affecting, the physical nature of man, as distinguished from the mental or moral nature; relating to the bodily wants, interests, and comforts; as, material well-being; material comforts.  [1913 Webster]
•  Of solid or weighty character; not insubstantial; of consequence; not be dispensed with; important; significant.  [1913 Webster]

  "Discourse, which was always material, never trifling."  [1913 Webster]

  "I shall, in the account of simple ideas, set down only such as are most material to our present purpose."  [1913 Webster]
•  Pertaining to the matter, as opposed to the form, of a thing. See Matter.  [1913 Webster]

Material cause. See under Cause. -- Material evidence (Law), evidence which conduces to the proof or disproof of a relevant hypothesis. Wharton.

Syn. -- Corporeal; bodily; important; weighty; momentous; essential.

Material, n. 

 The substance or matter of which anything is made or may be made.  [1913 Webster]

Raw material, any crude, unfinished, or elementary materials that are adapted to use only by processes of skilled labor. Cotton, wool, ore, logs, etc., are raw material.

Material, v. t. 

 To form from matter; to materialize.  Sir T. Browne.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Material, n. & adj.
--n.
1 the matter from which a thing is made.
2 cloth, fabric.
3 (in pl.) things needed for an activity (building materials; cleaning materials; writing materials).
4 a person or thing of a specified kind or suitable for a purpose (officer material).
5 (in sing. or pl.) information etc. to be used in writing a book etc. (experimental material; materials for a biography).
6 (in sing. or pl., often foll. by of) the elements or constituent parts of a substance.
--adj.
1 of matter; corporeal.
2 concerned with bodily comfort etc. (material well-being).
3 (of conduct, points of view, etc.) not spiritual.
4 (often foll. by to) important, essential, relevant (at the material time).
5 concerned with the matter, not the form, of reasoning.

Derivative

materiality n.

Etymology

ME f. OF materiel, -al, f. LL materialis f. L (as MATTER)

DEVIL DICTIONARY

Material

adj. Having an actual existence, as distinguished from an imaginary one. Important.

Material things I know, or fell, or see;
All else is immaterial to me.
Jamrach Holobom

THESAURUS

Material

Adamic, Circean, Formica, Masonite, Philistine, a propos, ab ovo, absolute, abundance, accumulation, actual, ad rem, adducible, admissible, air, amassment, animal, animalistic, apparatus, appertaining, applicable, applying, apposite, appreciable, appropriate, apropos, asphalt, atom, atomic particles, atoms, attestative, attestive, authentic, backlog, ballpoint pen, basal, based on, basic, beastlike, beastly, bedrock, being, belonging, bestial, bibliography, big, big-league, big-name, big-time, bigwig, bigwigged, blackboard, blacktop, bodily, body of knowledge, body of learning, brick, brutal, brute, brute matter, brutish, budget, building block, canvas, cardinal, carnal, carnal-minded, carpeting, central, certain, chalk, chemical element, circumstantial, clapboard, cloth, coarse, cobblestone, collection, commissariat, commissary, component, components, conclusive, concrete, consequential, considerable, constituent, constituents, constitutive, convincing, core, cork tile, cornucopia, corporal, corporeal, crayon, cumulation, cumulative, cyclopedia, damning, data, decisive, determinative, distillate, distillation, documentary, documentation, documented, documents, double-barreled, drapery, dump, earth, earthly, earthshaking, earthy, element, elemental, elementary, elementary particle, elementary unit, elements, elixir, encyclopedia, entity, equipment, eraser, essence, essential, etoffe, evidential, evidentiary, ex parte, eye-witness, fabric, facts, factual, fallen, felt, fiber glass, figures, final, fire, firsthand, flag, flagging, flagstone, fleshly, flooring, focal, founded on, fundamental, fundamental particle, gear, germane, gist, goods, grand, great, gross, grounded on, gut, habiliments, heap, hearsay, heart, heavyweight, high-powered, hoard, hyle, hylic, hypostasis, implicit, important, in point, incontrovertible, indicative, indispensable, indisputable, individual, information, ingredient, ink, inkhorn, inkstand, inkwell, inventory, invisible ink, involving, irrefutable, irresistible, kernel, lace, lapsed, larder, lay, lead pencil, life-and-death, life-or-death, linoleum, literature, lore, macadam, machinery, major, marrow, mass, material world, materialistic, materiality, materials, materiate, materiel, matter, meaningful, means, meat, medium, molecule, momentous, monad, mundane, munitions, name, napery, natural world, nature, nib, nonspiritual, notes, nub, nuncupative, object, objective, of the essence, of vital importance, orgiastic, original, outfit, overwhelming, palpable, pantile, paper, papers, paraphernalia, parquet, pavement, pavestone, paving, pen, perceptible, pertaining, pertinent, phenomenal, physical, physical world, pile, pith, plasterboard, plenitude, plenty, plenum, plume, plywood, ponderable, postlapsarian, presumptive, primal, primary, primitive, probative, provisionment, provisions, publications, quill, quintessence, radical, rag, rations, real, reed, relevant, reliable, repertoire, repertory, research, resources, rick, roofage, roofing, roofing paper, sap, secular, self-important, sensible, sensual, serious, shake, sheathing board, sheeting, shingle, siding, significant, silk, slate, solid, somatic, soul, spirit, spun glass, stack, statistics, stencil, stock, stock-in-trade, stockpile, stone, store, store of knowledge, stores, stuff, style, stylograph, stylus, substance, substantial, substantive, substratum, suggestive, sum and substance, superior, supplies, supply on hand, sure, swinish, sympathetic ink, symptomatic, system of knowledge, table, tablet, tackle, tackling, tangible, tar paper, telling, temporal, terrestrial, textile, textile fabric, texture, thatch, the four elements, tile, tilestone, tiling, tissu, tissue, to the point, to the purpose, treasure, treasury, treasury of information, true, underlying, unit of being, unspiritual, valid, veneer, vital, wainscoting, wallboard, walling, wallpaper, water, weatherboard, weave, web, weft, weighty, wood, woof, wool, world-shaking, worldly

ROGET THESAURUS

Material

Materials

N materials, material, raw material, stuff, stock, staple, adobe, brown stone, chinking, clapboard, daubing, puncheon, shake, shingle, bricks and mortar, metal, stone, clay, brick crockery, compo, composition, concrete, reinforced concrete, cement, wood, ore, timber, materials, supplies, munition, fuel, grist, household stuff pabulum, ammunition, contingents, relay, reinforcement, reenforcement, baggage, means, calico, cambric, cashmere, raw, wooden, adobe.

Importance

N importance, consequence, moment, prominence, consideration, mark, materialness, import, significance, concern, emphasis, interest, greatness, superiority, notability, weight, value, usefulness, gravity, seriousness, solemnity, no joke, no laughing matter, pressure, urgency, stress, matter of life and death, memorabilia, notabilia, great doings, red-letter day, great thing, great point, main chance, the be all and the end all, cardinal point, substance, gist, sum and substance, gravamen, head and front, important part, principal part, prominent part, essential part, half the battle, sine qua non, breath of one's nostrils, cream, salt, core, kernel, heart, nucleus, keynote, keystone, corner stone, trump card, salient points, top sawyer, first fiddle, prima donna, chief, triton among the minnows, 'it', important, of importance, momentous, material, to the point, not to be overlooked, not to be despised, not to be sneezed at, egregious, weighty, of note, notable, prominent, salient, signal, memorable, remarkable, unforgettable, worthy of remark, worthy of notice, never to be forgotten, stirring, eventful, grave, serious, earnest, noble, grand, solemn, impressive, commanding, imposing, urgent, pressing, critical, instant, paramount, essential, vital, all-absorbing, radical, cardinal, chief, main, prime, primary, principal, leading, capital, foremost, overruling, of vital importance in the front rank, first-rate, superior, considerable, marked, rare, significant, telling, trenchant, emphatic, pregnant, tanti, materially, in the main, above all, kat' exochin, par excellence, to crown all, to beat all, expende Hannibalem!.

Materiality

N materiality, materialness, corporeity, corporality, substantiality, substantialness, flesh and blood, plenum, physical condition, matter, body, substance, brute matter, stuff, element, principle, parenchyma, material, substratum, hyle, corpus, pabulum, frame, object, article, thing, something, still life, stocks and stones, materials, physics, somatology, somatics, natural philosophy, experimental philosophy, physicism, physical science, philosophie positive, materialism, materialist, physicist, somatism, somatist, material, bodily, corporeal, corporal, physical, somatic, somatoscopic, sensible, tangible, ponderable, palpable, substantial, objective, impersonal, nonsubjective, neuter, unspiritual, materialistic, materiality, materialness, corporeity, corporality, substantiality, substantialness, flesh and blood, plenum, physical condition, matter, body, substance, brute matter, stuff, element, principle, parenchyma, material, substratum, hyle, corpus, pabulum, frame, object, article, thing, something, still life, stocks and stones, materials, physics, somatology, somatics, natural philosophy, experimental philosophy, physicism, physical science, philosophie positive, materialism, materialist, physicist, somatism, somatist, material, bodily, corporeal, corporal, physical, somatic, somatoscopic, sensible, tangible, ponderable, palpable, substantial, objective, impersonal, nonsubjective, neuter, unspiritual, materialistic.