See Also: MATERIAL MEN(law)
Raw material(money)
Material(money)
material(dictionary)
Material(medicine)
composite material(encyclopedia)
type material(medicine)
material 2, adjective(dictionary)
parent material(medicine)
impression material(medicine)

material (iou)



material adjective & noun. ME.
[Old & mod. French materiel, -ial from late Latin materialis, from Latin materia matter: see -AL1.]
A. adjective.
Of or pertaining to matter or substance; formed or consisting of matter; corporeal. ME.
J. Butler The material world appears to be..boundless and immense. Annabel The accumulation of material things has never been of great significance to me.
b. Forming the material or substance of a thing. rare (Shakes.). Only in E17.
a. Philosophy. Of or pertaining to matter as opp. to form. LME.
b. Logic. Concerned with the matter, not the form, of reasoning. E17.
c. Philosophy & Theology. That is so by conduct or matter, rather than by motive or form. M17.
a. Serious, important; of consequence. L15.
G. Grote The Athenians had a material interest in the quarrel.
b. Pertinent, relevant; essential to; US Law having a logical connection with the facts at issue. L15.
Sir W. Scott Certain passages material to his understanding the rest of this important narrative.
c. Chiefly Law. Of evidence or a fact: significant, influential, esp. to the extent of determining a cause, affecting a judgement, etc. L16.
d. Full of sense or sound information. Only in 17.
Of conduct, a point of view, etc.: not elevated or spiritual. L16.
C. Bront? What I saw struck me..as grossly material, not poetically spiritual.
Concerned with or involving matter or the use of matter; relating to the physical, as opp. to the intellectual or spiritual, aspect of things; concerned with physical progress, bodily comfort, etc. M17.
M. McCarthy No nation with any sense of material well-being would endure the food we eat.
Physically bulky, massive, or solid. M17-M18.
Special collocations & comb.: material cause: see CAUSE noun. material culture: see CULTURE noun. material implication Logic a relationship which always holds between two propositions except when the first is true and the second false. material noun Grammar = mass noun s.v. MASS noun2 & adjective. material object Philosophy an object regarded as having a physical existence independent of consciousness. material-objectness Philosophy the state of existing as a material object. material thing = material object above.
b. noun.
sing. & in pl.
a. The matter of which a thing is or may be made. LME.
raw material unmanufactured material, material from which something is or may be made.
Swift A palace may be built..of materials so durable as to last for ever. K. Clark The new material that was going to transform the art of buildingiron.
b. The constituent parts of something. M17.
sing. & in pl. Information, evidence, ideas, etc., for use in writing a book or script, drawing a conclusion, etc. LME.
H. Moore A painter..must be continually gathering material from his experience of things seen. E. Kuzwayo I returned to Thabu' Nehu to seek out material for my book.
In pl. Items needed for an activity. L16.
building materials, cleaning materials, writing materials, etc.
Cloth, fabric. M19.
S. Plath The girls had pocket-book covers made out of the same material as their dresses.
With specifying word: a person or thing suitable for a specific role or purpose. L19.
academic material, officer material.
Comb.: material clerk, materials clerk: who controls the supply of materials in a business; material control, materials control: of working materials in relation to production plans; material handling, materials handling the movement and storage of materials in a factory; material man, materials man a man responsible for the materials required in building or manufacturing; material science, materials science the branch of science that deals with the structure and properties of materials, esp. with relation to their (potential) usefulness.