material English · revision 3147

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1340|origins=la māteria}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /məˈtɪə.ri.əl/, US /məˈtɪr.i.əl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|materiel]], material,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|materiel]], material,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and directly [[bor|la-lat|māteriālis|t=of or belonging to matter]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la|māteria|t=matter, stuff, wood, timber]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the source of [[matter]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The noun is from the adjective.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The French form matériel was borrowed again as [[materiel]], a doublet.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The adjective, “of matter, physical, concrete, earthly”: about 1340,^(Barnhart 1988) or before 1340 in the OED,^(OED 1989) at first a term of scholastic philosophy and theology contrasting the physical with the spiritual.^(Etymonline) The noun, “the substance a thing is made from”, is from about 1380, in Chaucer's translation of Boethius.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In philosophy ''material'' was also contrasted with form, from about 1386.^(OED 1989) The adjective's sense “important, relevant, pertaining to the matter in hand” is from the late 15th century,^(Etymonline) and in the law of evidence, “of legal significance to the case”, from the 1580s.^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster dates the noun to 1556.^(MWU 2024) Cloth for making clothes, and information or ideas to be worked into a finished piece, are later senses.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) ''Materialism'' is from 1748,^(Barnhart 1988) and devotion to material things rather than spiritual ones from Hawthorne in 1851.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1340 – adjective, physical, earthly.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1380 – noun, the substance of a thing.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 15th century – relevant, important.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1580s – in law, of significance to a case.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1748 – ''materialism''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[substance]] or substances from which a thing is or can be made.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Cloth; [[fabric]].^(AHD)

+ # Information or ideas used in making a book, performance or other work.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''materials'': The tools or equipment needed for a task.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A person suited to a particular role: ''officer material''.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of or made of [[matter]]; physical.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Concerned with physical things or comfort rather than the [[spirit|alt=spiritual]] or intellectual.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Important and relevant, especially in law: ''a material witness''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[materialness]]

+ * [[materially]]

+ * [[unmaterial]]

+ * [[materialise]]

+ * [[materialize]]

+ * [[materialization]]

+ * [[biomaterial]]

+ * [[hazmat]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[matter]]

+ * [[materiel]]

+ * [[materialism]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In north Irish dialect ''material'' meant “good, excellent”: “a material cow”.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}