n. & adj.
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. materiality n.
[ ME f. OF materiel, -al, f. LL materialis f. L (as MATTER) ]