matter

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈmæt.ə/, US /ˈmæt̬.ɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English materie (later matere),^[2][3] borrowed from Old French matere (Anglo-French matere) and directly borrowed from Latin māteria (“substance from which something is made; timber”),^[4][2] from māter (“mother; origin, source”).^[4][5][6] The American Heritage Dictionary explains that the hard wood of a tree was seen as the source of its growth.^[5] In philosophy the Latin word took on the meanings of Greek Ancient Greek ὕλη (hū́lē, “wood; stuff, matter”), Aristotle's word for matter.^[4][6] It is related to mother, material, maternal and matrimony,^[7] and Latin māteria also gave Spanish madera (“wood”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Substance, a concern, a subject of discussion: probably before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle.^[2] Etymonline dates the sense “subject of thought, speech or writing” to about 1200.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English matter was first the theme or content of a text, and by about 1300 also a narrative or story.^[4] The physical sense “substance in general” dates from the mid-14th century, and “the material of a particular thing” from the late 14th century.^[4] Also in the late 14th century it came to mean an affair or piece of business,^[4] and in law from the 1530s it was something to be tried or proved.^[4] Hoad dates “physical substance” in the scientific sense and “things written or printed” to the 17th century.^[8] The verb “to form pus” is recorded in 1530, in Palsgrave,^[2] and “to be of importance” from 1581.^[2][4] Matter of fact is from 1581 and matter-of-fact from 1712, in Steele.^[2] Matter of course is from 1739.^[4]

Timeline

• before 1200 – substance, subject (Ancrene Riwle).^[2]
• c. 1300 – a narrative.^[4]
• mid-14th century – physical substance.^[4]
• late 14th century – an affair, business.^[4]
• 1530 – verb, to form pus (Palsgrave).^[2]
• 1530s – in law, a thing to be proved.^[4]
• 1581 – verb, to be important, and matter of fact.^[2]
• 1712 – matter-of-fact (Steele).^[2]
• 1739 – matter of course.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. That which occupies space and has mass, existing as a solid, liquid or gas.
2. A particular kind of substance: vegetable matter.
3. Discharge from the body, such as pus.
4. A subject of concern, discussion or action; an affair.
5. Trouble or difficulty: what's the matter?
6. Written or printed material: reading matter.
7. (law) Something to be tried or proved.

Verb

1. To be of importance; to signify.
2. (obsolete except in dialect) To form or discharge pus.

Word family

• matterful
• matterless
• nonmatter
• overmatter
• matter-of-fact
• mattery
• back matter
• dark matter

Related words

• mother
• material
• maternal
• matrimony
• Madeira

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press