# material

> English word · Adjective · IPA /məˈtɪə.ɹi.əl/ · frequency rank #1,198

## Definitions
1. Of, relating to, or consisting of matter, especially physical.
2. Of, relating to, or affecting physical well-being; corporeal; bodily.
3. Of or relating to the matter of reasoning, as distinguished from the form of it, especially empirical.
4. Having real importance or great consequences; significant; substantial.
5. Relating to or concerned with what is purely physical rather than intellectual or spiritual, especially excessively so; materialistic.
6. Full of substance or otherwise meaning.
7. In an important degree.

## Etymology
From Middle English material, from Late Latin māteriālis, from Latin māteria (“wood, material, substance”), from māter (“mother”). Displaced native Middle English andweorc, andwork (“material, matter”) (from Old English andweorc (“matter, substance, material”)). Doublet of materiel.

## Easily confused with
- **maternal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/material-vs-maternal)
- **materiel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/material-vs-materiel)
- **materials** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/material-vs-materials)
- **materially** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/material-vs-materially)
- **materia** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/materia-vs-material)

## Common misspellings (11)
`amterial`, `maetrial`, `mateiral`, `materail`, `materiall`, `materila`, `materrial`, `matreial`, `matterial`, `mmaterial`, `mtaerial`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/material