Etymologically
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matter

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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
  • 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