■ noun
1》 the matter from which a thing is or can be made.
↘items needed for an activity.
↘a person of a specified quality or suitability: he's not really Olympic ~.
2》 information or ideas for use in creating a book, performance, or other work.
3》 cloth or fabric.
■ adjective
1》 denoting or consisting of physical objects rather than the mind or spirit: the ~ world.
↘concerned with the matter of reasoning, not its form.
2》 significant; important: the insects did not do any ~ damage.
↘(often ~ to ) relevant: information that could be ~ to a murder inquiry.
Derivatives
~ity noun ( plural ~ities ).
Origin
ME: from late L. ~is , from L. materia 'matter'.