Hypertext Webster Gateway: "material"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Material \Ma*te"ri*al\, n.
The substance or matter of which anything is made or may be
made.
{Raw material}, any crude, unfinished, or elementary
materials that are adapted to use only by processes of
skilled labor. Cotton, wool, ore, logs, etc., are raw
material.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Material \Ma*te"ri*al\, v. t.
To form from matter; to materialize. [Obs.] --Sir T. Browne.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Material \Ma*te"ri*al\, a. [L. materialis, fr. materia stuff,
matter: cf. F. mat['e]riel. See {Matter}, and cf.
{Mat['E]riel}.]
1. Consisting of matter; not spiritual; corporeal; physical;
as, material substance or bodies.
The material elements of the universe. --Whewell.
2. Hence: Pertaining to, or affecting, the physical nature of
man, as distinguished from the mental or moral nature;
relating to the bodily wants, interests, and comforts.
3. Of solid or weighty character; not insubstantial; of
cinsequence; not be dispensed with; important.
Discourse, which was always material, never
trifling. --Evelyn.
I shall, in the account of simple ideas, set down
only such as are most material to our present
purpose. --Locke.
4. (Logic.) Pertaining to the matter, as opposed to the form,
of a thing. See {Matter}.
{Material cause}. See under {Cause}.
{Material evidence} (Law), evidence which conduces to the
proof or disproof of a relevant hypothesis. --Wharton.
Syn: Corporeal; bodily; important; weighty; momentous;
essential.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
material
adj 1: concerned with worldly rather than spiritual interests;
"material possessions"; "material wealth"; "material
comforts"
2: derived from or composed of matter; "the material universe"
[ant: {immaterial}]
3: directly relevant to a matter especially a law case; "his
support made a material difference"; "evidence material to
the issue at hand"; "facts likely to influence the
judgment are called material facts"; "a material witness"
[ant: {immaterial}]
4: concerned with or affecting physical as distinct from
intellectual or psychological well-being; "material
needs"; "the moral and material welfare of all good
citizens"- T.Roosevelt
5: having material or physical form or substance; "that which
is created is of necessity corporeal and visible and
tangible" - Benjamin Jowett [syn: {corporeal}] [ant: {incorporeal}]
6: having substance or capable of being treated as fact; not
imaginary; "the substantial world"; "a mere dream, neither
substantial nor practical"; "most ponderous and
substantial things"- Shakespeare [syn: {substantial}, {real}]
[ant: {insubstantial}]
n 1: the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a
physical object; "coal is a hard black material"; "wheat
is the stuff they use to make bread" [syn: {stuff}]
2: information (data or ideas or observations) that can be
reworked into a finished form; "the archives provided rich
material for a definitive biography"
3: things needed for doing or making something; "writing
materials"; "useful teaching materials"
4: artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting or
crocheting natural or synthetic fibers [syn: {fabric}, {cloth},
{textile}]
5: a person judged suitable for admission or employment; "he
was university material"; "she was vice-presidential
material"
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