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material definition

Overview

This page has 42 definitions of material with English translations in 10 languages. Material is an adjective, noun and verb. Examples of how to use material in a sentence are shown. Also define these 0 related words and terms: .

See also: Material, materiál, and materiał

English material definition

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.

Pronunciation

Adjective

material (comparative more material, superlative most material)

  1. Having to do with matter; consisting of matter.
    This compound has a number of interesting material properties.
  2. Worldly, as opposed to spiritual.
    Don't let material concerns get in the way of living a happy life.
    Antonym: spiritual
  3. (law, accounting) Significant.
    You've made several material contributions to this project.
    This is the most material fact in this lawsuit.
    Antonym: immaterial

Synonyms

Derived terms

Terms derived from material (adjective)
 

Translations

Noun

material (countable and uncountable, plural materials)

  2. Matter which may be shaped or manipulated, particularly in making something.
    Asphalt, composed of oil and sand, is a widely used material for roads.
    • 1820, Encyclopaedia Britannica; Or A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature‎[1], volume 20, 6th edition, Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Company, page 501:
      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.
    • 2012 March 1, Lee A. Groat, “Gemstones”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 128:
      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.)
  4. Text written for a specific purpose.
    We were a warm-up act at the time; we didn't have enough original material to headline.
  6. A sample or specimens for study.
    • 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page vii:
      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 […]
  8. Cloth to be made into a garment. Fabric.
    You'll need about a yard of material to make this.
    • 1977, Agatha Christie, An Autobiography, part II, London: Collins, →ISBN, page 4:
      Mind you, clothes were clothes in those days. There was a great deal of them, lavish both in material and in workmanship.
  10. 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.
    • 2021 November 20, Alex Williams, “To Breed or Not to Breed?”, in The New York Times‎[2], ISSN 0362-4331:
      Before she married her husband, Kiersten Little considered him ideal father material.
  12. Related data of various kinds, especially if collected as the basis for a document or book.
    • 2013 June 14, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama's once hip brand is now tainted”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 18:
      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.
  13. The substance that something is made or composed of.
  14. (chess) All of a player's pieces and pawns on the chessboard.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Terms derived from material (noun)

Related terms

Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Dictionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also

Verb

material (third-person singular simple present materials, present participle materialling, simple past and past participle materialled)

  1. (obsolete, transitive) To form from matter; to materialize.
    • 1642, Tho[mas] Browne, “(please specify the page)”, in Religio Medici. […], 4th edition, London: […] E. Cotes for Andrew Crook […], published 1656, OCLC 927499620:
      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.

Anagrams

Catalan material definition

Etymology

From Latin materialis.

Pronunciation

Adjective

material (masculine and feminine plural materials)

  1. material (clarification of this definition is needed)

Noun

material m (plural materials)

  1. material (clarification of this definition is needed)

Related terms

Further reading

Crimean Tatar material definition

Etymology

From Latin materialis.

Noun

material

  1. material

Declension

Declension of material
nominative material
genitive materialnıñ
dative materialğa
accusative materialnı
locative materialda
ablative materialdan

References

  • Mirjejev, V. A.; Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎[3], Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

Galician material definition

Noun

material m (plural materiais)

  1. material

Indonesian material definition

Etymology

From Dutch materiaal, from Middle Dutch materiael, from Middle French material, from Old French material, from Latin māteriālis.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ma.teˈri.al]
  • Hyphenation: ma‧té‧ri‧al

Noun

material (plural material-material, first-person possessive materialku, second-person possessive materialmu, third-person possessive materialnya)

  1. material: matter which may be shaped or manipulated, particularly in making something.

Related terms

 

Further reading

Middle English material definition

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin māteriālis; equivalent to matere +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /matɛriˈaːl/, /maːtɛriˈaːl/, /maˈtɛːrial/, /matɛriˈɛːl/, /maˈtɛːriɛl/

Adjective

material (plural and weak singular materiale)

  1. Extant in matter or having physical form; material.
  2. Not supernatural or spiritual; regular, conventional, worldly.
  3. Being the physical attributes or properties of a thing.
  4. Affecting or modifying physical matter or attributes.
  5. (rare) Prominent, significant.

Descendants

References

Norwegian Bokmål material definition

Etymology

From Late Latin materiale.

Noun

material n (definite singular materialet, indefinite plural material or materialer, definite plural materiala or materialene)

  1. alternative form of materiale

Derived terms

References

Portuguese material definition

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin māteriālis, from Latin māteria (“wood, material, substance”), from māter (“mother”).

Pronunciation

  • Hyphenation: ma‧te‧ri‧al
  • Rhymes: -al, -aw

Noun

material m (plural materiais)

  1. material; stuff (the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object)
  2. material (sample or specimens for study)
    1. footage (amount of film produced)
    2. (education) resources used in class
  3. tackle; supplies; gear; rig (objects collected for use in a particular activity)
    material escolar ― school supplies
    material de pesca ― fishing gear

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:material.

Adjective

material m or f (plural materiais, comparable)

  1. (chemistry) material (relating to or composed of matter)
  2. (religion) material; worldly (relating to physical rather than spiritual matters)
    Synonym: terreno
  3. (of a person, derogatory) materialistic; consumeristic (obsessed with consumer goods)
    Synonyms: materialista, consumista

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:material.

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

  • “material” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Romanian material definition

Etymology

From French matériel, from Latin materialis.

Noun

material n (plural materiali)

  1. material

Declension

Declension of material
singular plural
indefinite articulation definite articulation indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (un) material materialul (niște) materiali materialile
genitive/dative (unui) material materialului (unor) materiali materialilor
vocative materialule materialilor

Spanish material definition

Etymology

From Late Latin māteriālis.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /mateˈɾjal/, [ma.t̪eˈɾjal]

Adjective

material (plural materiales)

  1. material

Noun

material m (plural materiales)

  1. material

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

Swedish material definition

Pronunciation

Noun

material n

  1. a material
  2. a matter, a subject (of study)

Declension

Declension of material 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative material materialet material materialen
Genitive materials materialets materials materialens

Related terms

Further reading

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