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materialistic

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Etymology and origin of the English word materialistic

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1829 More words from the 19th century
Ultimate origins
English materialistFrench -ique

Pronunciation

  • /məˌtɪəɹ.i.əˈlɪs.tɪk/[1]

Etymology

Most dictionaries take it as formed from English materialist + -ic.[2][3][4][5] The revised OED analyses it as material with the suffix -istic, after materialism and materialist, and compares German materialistisch, recorded from 1852.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of, relating to, or characterized by materialism in any of its senses: Etymonline dates it to 1829;[2] the OED's first record is F. D. Maurice's Moral and Metaphysical Philosophy, from before 1832.[6]

Semantic evolution

At first the word referred to materialism as a philosophical doctrine, and it is now used especially of people or societies concerned with material possessions rather than spiritual things.[6][4] In 1860 John Tyndall used it of the theory that heat is a material substance, a rare sense now obsolete.[6]

Timeline

  • 1829 – relating to or characterized by materialism.[2] The OED's first record is from before 1832.[6]
  • 1860 – advocating the theory that heat is a material substance (obsolete, rare).[6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Concerned chiefly with money and material possessions rather than spiritual or intellectual values: They worried that their children were growing up too materialistic.[6][4]
  2. Of, relating to, or based on materialism as a philosophical doctrine.[3][6][2]

Word family

  • antimaterialistic
  • nonmaterialistic
  • unmaterialistic

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
Cite this entry

“Materialistic.” Etymologically, 8 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/materialistic. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·