Material

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Pronunciation: /məˈtɪə.ɹi.əl/

Definitions

1. Physical substance from which things are made or composed, or information and facts relevant to a particular subject
2. Substance that can be touched or seen which is used to create objects or relevant data and items that are essential for a specific purpose
3. The tangible elements that form objects or resources of information that assist in understanding a topic or completing a task

Etymology: The noun "material" carries a surprising family tie: its Latin ancestor "māteria" meant "wood," and the same root lies behind "mother." The link runs through the idea of timber as the stuff from which things are built, and the Latin word for timber came to stand for substance in general. Medieval Latin then formed the adjective "māteriālis," and Middle English took it up as "material," with the sense of relating to physical matter. English already had its own word for this idea. Old English "andweorc," meaning matter or substance, was pushed aside by the Latin-derived term. Yet the two words were never fully separate in English: "material" as a noun and "materiel" as a French-influenced form grew apart, so that "materiel" now usually refers to equipment and supplies, especially military, while "material" covers both physical stuff and, in its modern sense, information or content used to learn from or complete a task.

Synonyms: substance, matter, physical, tangible, corporal

Antonyms: immaterial, spiritual, abstract, intangible, nonphysical