—n.
1 the matter from which a thing is made.
2 cloth, fabric.
3 (in pl.) things needed for an activity (building materials; cleaning materials; writing materials).
4 a person or thing of a specified kind or suitable for a purpose (officer material).
5 (in sing. or pl.) information etc. to be used in writing a book etc. (experimental material; materials for a biography).
6 (in sing. or pl., often foll. by of) the elements or constituent parts of a substance.
—adj.
1 of matter; corporeal.
2 concerned with bodily comfort etc. (material well-being).
3 (of conduct, points of view, etc.) not spiritual.
4 (often foll. by to) important, essential, relevant (at the material time).
5 concerned with the matter, not the form, of reasoning.
Derivatives:
materiality n.
Etymology: ME f. OF materiel, -al, f. LL materialis f. L (as MATTER)
Useful english dictionary. 2012.