immaterial

Etymology

It is partly borrowed from Late Latin immāteriālis (“not material, not existing in material reality”),^[2][3][4] recorded from the 4th century,^[2] and partly borrowed from Middle French immateriel (“not formed of matter”) (about 1340).^[2][5] The Middle English Dictionary, Barnhart, Etymonline and Klein give the Latin source as Medieval Latin immāteriālis.^[6][7][8][9] The Latin word is formed from in- (“not”) and māteriālis (“of matter”), the source of material.^[2][8][9][3] The OED compares Italian immateriale (14th century).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not formed of matter; spiritual, incorporeal: about 1450, in a copy of John Walton's verse translation of Boethius, made in 1410, which speaks of things inmateriall that common wit cannot reach.^[2][6] Barnhart dates it to 1410,^[7] Etymonline to about 1400,^[8] and Merriam-Webster to the 14th century.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Hoad notes that the word was not frequent before the 16th century.^[10] A weakened sense, of little substance, flimsy, is first found in Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida (1609),^[2][7] and is now rare.^[2][3] From 1598 it meant "not pertinent to the matter in hand", a sense that now survives chiefly in law, especially of evidence.^[2][5] The sense "of no consequence, unimportant" followed in 1698,^[2][8][7] from material in its sense "important".^[8][7] Johnson (1755) gave it a second definition, "unimportant", but wrote that this sense had "crept into the conversation and writings of barbarians" and ought to be rejected;^[11][7] Barnhart notes that material had meant "important" since at least 1529.^[7] The noun, an immaterial being or thing, usually in the plural, is recorded from 1608.^[2][3]

Timeline

• c. 1450 – not formed of matter, spiritual (in Walton's translation of 1410).^[2][6]
• 1598 – not pertinent to the matter in hand, irrelevant (now chiefly legal).^[2]
• 1608 – noun, an incorporeal being or thing.^[2]
• 1609 – having little substance, flimsy, in Shakespeare.^[2]
• 1698 – of no consequence, unimportant.^[2][8][7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of no real importance; irrelevant to the question: Whether the tickets cost five pounds or six is immaterial.^{[12][5][2][3]}
2. Not consisting of matter; incorporeal or spiritual: the immaterial soul.^{[12][5][2][3]}
3. (law) Not material or essential to a legal case, especially of evidence.^[5][2]
4. (rare) Having little substance; flimsy.^[2][3] Merriam-Webster marks this sense obsolete.^[5]

Noun

1. A thing or being that is not material, usually in the plural.^[2][3]

Word family

• immaterially
• immaterialness
• immaterialism
• immateriality
• immaterialize

Related words

• material
• matter
• nonmaterial
• materialism

Usage notes

Johnson's objection to the sense "unimportant" (1755) did not prevail: Collins and Merriam-Webster now give it first among the word's senses.^[11][12][5]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins