Etimology
From Middle English matere, mater, from Anglo-Norman matere, materie, from Old French materie, matiere, from Latin materia (“wood”), from mater (“mother”), in which case cognate with Old Armenian մայր (mayr, “cedar”) and մայրի (mayri, “forest”). More recently, referred to Proto-Indo-European *dem-. Doublet of Madeira and mother. Displaced Middle English andweorc, andwork (“material, matter”), from Old English andweorc (“matter, substance, material”), Old English intinga (“matter, affair, business”).
noun
matter (countable and uncountable, plural matters)
(uncountable) Material; substance.
An affair, condition, or subject, especially one of concern or (especially when preceded by the) one that is problematic.
An approximate amount or extent.
(countable, law) Legal services provided by a lawyer or firm to their client in relation to a particular issue.
(obsolete) Essence; pith; embodiment.
(obsolete) (The) inducing cause or reason, especially of anything disagreeable or distressing.
(dated, medicine) Pus.
(uncountable) Importance.
Examples
Antonym: antimatter
vegetable matter
He always took some reading matter with him on the plane.
Something is the matter with him.
The diplomats met to discuss state matters.
So in many armies, if the matter ſhould bee tried by duell betvvene tvvo Champions, the victory ſhould goe on the one ſide, & yet if it be tried by the groſſe, it vvould goe on the other ſide: for excellencies goe as it vvere by chance, but kinds goe by a more certaine Nature, as by Diſcipline in vvarre.
Son of God, Saviour of men! Thy name / Shall be the copious matter of my song.
Every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge.
The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; […] . Now she had come to look upon the matter in its true proportions, and her anticipation of a possible chance of teaching him a lesson was a pleasure to behold.
The matter of whether the world needs a fourth Ice Age movie pales beside the question of why there were three before it, but Continental Drift feels less like an extension of a theatrical franchise than an episode of a middling TV cartoon, lolling around on territory that’s already been settled.
I stayed for a matter of months.
No small matter of British forces were commanded over sea the year before.
Away he goes, […] a matter of seven miles.
[…] I have Thoughts to tarry a ſmall Matter in Town, to learn ſomewhat of your Lingo firſt, before I croſs the Seas.
Please find attached an invoice for three outstanding matters.
He is the matter of virtue.
And this is the matter why interpreters upon that passage in Hosea will not consent it to be a true story, that the prophet took a harlot to wife.
What matter if we unrewarded must strive, / If Wall Street and gamblers around it may thrive? / What matter if we doubly pay for our food / To support the monopolist kings of the road?
Related words
synonyms
material
stuff
substance
verb
matter (third-person singular simple present matters, present participle mattering, simple past and past participle mattered)
(intransitive, stative) To be important. [from 16th c.]
(transitive, in negative constructions, now England regional, Caribbean) To care about, to mind; to find important. [from 17th c.]
(intransitive, medicine, archaic) To form pus or matter, as an abscess; to maturate.
Examples
The only thing that matters to Jim is being rich.
Sorry for pouring ketchup on your clean white shirt! - Oh, don't worry, it does not matter.
As a political system democracy seems to me extraordinarily foolish, […]. My servant is, so far as I am concerned, welcome to as many votes as he can get. […] I do not suppose that it matters much in reality whether laws are made by dukes or cornerboys, but I like, as far as possible, to associate with gentlemen in private life.
Despite further attempts by Agbonlahor and Young, however, they could not find the goal to reward their endeavour.It mattered little as Newcastle's challenge faded and Villa began to dominate the game in midfield, and it was only Barton's continued sense of injustice that offered the visitors any spark in a tame contest.
Besides, if it had been out of doors I had not mattered it so much; but with my own servant, in my own house, under my own roof […]
He matter'd not that, he said; coy maids made the fondest wives […].
Each slight sore mattereth.
Related words
synonyms
(be important): signify