material 
material* (ma-te'ri-al), r. *. [< material, M.] To 
render material ; materialize. 
I believe that the whole frame of a beast doth perish, and 
is left in the same state after death as before it was inateri- 
aled unto life. . Sir T. Browne, Eeligio Medici, 37. 
materialisation, materialise. See materiali- 
zation, materialize. 
materialism (ma-te'ri-al-izm), . [First used 
in E.; = P. materialisme = Sp. Pg. It. materia- 
lismo; as material + -ism.'] 1. The denial of the 
existence in man of an immaterial substance, 
which alone is conscious, distinct and separa- 
ble from the body. 2. The metaphysical doe- 
trine that matter is the only substance, and that 
matter and its motions constitute the universe. 
See idealism, 1. 
Philosophical materialism holds that matter and the 
motions of matter make up the sum total of existence, 
and that what we know as psychical phenomena in man 
and other animals are to be interpreted in an ultimate 
analysis as simply the peculiar aspect which is assumed 
by certain enormously complicated motions of matter. 
J. Fiske, Evolutionist, p. 277. 
3. The doctrine that all phenomena are to be 
accounted for by the fortuitous concourse of 
atoms, in connection with certain laws or ten- 
dencies toward laws, in nature ; Epicureanism. 
4. Any opinion or tendency that is based 
upon purely material interests ; hence, any low 
view of life ; devotion to material things or in- 
terests; neglect of spiritual for physical needs 
and considerations. 
Criticism is infested with a cant of materialism, which 
assumes that manual skill and activity is the tlrst merit 
of all men, and disparages such as say and do not. 
Emerson, The Poet. 
There is a Lower Life, of which the animating principle 
is secnlarity, or in the popular sense of the word ma- 
terialism. J. X. Seeley, Nat. Religion, p. 225. 
materialist (ma-te'ri-al-ist), n. and a. [= F. 
materialiste = Sp. Pg. It. materialista ; as ma- 
terial + -ist.] I. . 1. One who holds or ad- 
vocates any form of metaphysical materialism. 
He who denies spirit in man or in the universe is a per- 
fect materialist. Fleming, Vocab. of Philos. 
2. One who is absorbed by material interests; 
' one who takes a low, material view of life. 
Persons who worship nothing but worldly success, who 
care for nothing but wealth, or fashionable display, or 
personal celebrity, or sensual gratification, are thus loosely 
called materialists. J. Fixke, Cosmic Philos., II. 433. 
II. a. Of or pertaining to materialism; ma- 
terialistic. 
The materialist view is quite as imperfect as the spiritu- 
alist view. O. H. Lewes, Hist. Philos., II. 753. 
materialistic (ma-te"ri-a-lis'tik), a. [< mate- 
rialist + -ic.] Pertaining to, of the nature of, 
or characterized by materialism, in any sense 
of that word. 
But to me his very spiritualism seemed more material- 
istic than his physics. Eiiigsley. 
materialistical (ma-te"ri-a-lis'ti-kal), a. [< ma- 
terialistic + -(.] Same as materialistic. 
materiality (ma-te-ri-al'i-ti), n. [= F. mate- 
rialite = Sp. materialidau = Pg. materialidade 
= It. materialita, < NL. *materialita( t-)s, < LL. 
materialis, material: see material.'] 1. The state 
or condition of being material; physical con- 
stitution or organization; corporeity: as, the 
old belief in the materiality of heat. 
Nor had compacted earth, nor rock, nor stone, 
Nor gross materiality been known. 
Byrom, Epistle to a Qeutleman in the Temple. 
There has arisen . . . the conception of a deity who, 
at first human in all things, has been gradually losing hu- 
man materiality. H. Spencer, Univ. Prog., p. 70. 
2. A material thing; material substance. 
Sufficient is it to remember for the present that the soul 
is a subtler and more refined materiaiitif, which is thus en- 
dowed with more delicate and refined perceptions than 
the bodily organs. W. Wallace, Epicureanism, p. 102. 
3. Material character; coarseness; grossuess. 
In polygamous families . . . the children cannot avoid 
suffering . . . from the general debasement and materi- 
ality of life. S. Buieles, Our New West, p. 248. 
4. The perception of material substance by 
the mind; that factor in cognition which is rec- 
ognized as material. 
It is of more than psychological interest to remark how 
the primordial factor in matanoKty is thus due to the pro- 
jection of a subjectively determined reaction to that ac- 
tion of a not-self on which sense-impressions depend 
an action of the not-self which, of course, is not known as 
such till this projection of the subjective reaction has 
taken place. J. Ward, Encye. Brit., XX. 56. 
5. The quality of being material ; importance ; 
essentiality : as, the materiality of testimony. 
Now materiality is a relative term : applied to the con- 
sequences of an act, it bore relation to pain and pleasure : 
3658 
applied to the circumstances, it bears relation to the con- 
' Bentham, Introd. to Morals and Legislation, vii. 23. 
materialization (ma-te"ri-al-i-za'shon), n. [< 
materialize + -ation'.] The act of materializ- 
ing or of investing with or assuming a material 
form; change from a spiritual, ideal, or imagi- 
nary state to a state of matter; specifically, 
among spiritualists, the alleged assumption 
by a spirit of a material or bodily form. Also 
spelled materialisation. 
materialize (ma-te'ri-al-Iz), v. ; pret. and pp. 
materialized, ppr. materializing. [= F. materi- 
iilisi'r = It. materializzare ; as material + -ize.~\ 
1. trans. 1. To give a material form or bodily 
existence to; make physically perceptible; em- 
body in any manner. See II. 
By this means [letters] we materialize our ideas, and 
make them as lasting as the ink and paper, their vehicles. 
Guardian, No. 172. 
With wonderful art and beauty [Virgil has) materialized 
(if I may so call it) a scheme of abstracted notions, and 
clothed the most nice, refined conceptions of philosophy 
in sensible images and poetical representations. 
Tatter, No. 115. 
He regarded the suggestion that the letter he described 
as "materialised, or reintegrated in the air" was an out- 
come of any concealed apparatus as "grotesquely ab- 
surd." S. Hodgson, Proc. Soc. Psych. Research, III. 262. 
2. To give the character of metaphysical ma- 
terialism to ; render materialistic. 
The materializing tendencies of the former system. 
lUilman, Hist Latin Christianity, viil. 6. 
3. To reduce to a material basis or standard ; 
treat as pertaining only to matter; give a ma- 
terial character to ; make material, low, coarse, 
sensual, etc.: as, to materialize thought, mo- 
rality, or mythology ; to materialize one's ideas 
or enjoyments. 
II. intrans. 1. To become material; assume 
a material form; in recent spiritualistic use, 
to assume, as a spirit or immaterial entity, a 
form which is perceptible by the senses, or one 
that is visible, tangible, and (in the case of sup- 
posed spirits) capable of physical exertion. 
But, setting aside all charlatanry, there is an over- 
whelming amount of evidence from people who are pre- 
sumably truthful to the effect that they have actually 
seen persons and things materialize, as the phrase goes, 
out of nothing. JT. A. Rev., CXLVI. 704. 
2. To take form or shape; come into percep- 
tible existence; become real: as, the project 
has not yet materialized. [Colloq.] 
The hail of the intruders was regarded as a challenge 
by some fifteen or twenty hounds that suddenly material- 
ized among the bee-hives and the althea bushes. 
M. N. Murfree, Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountains. 
Also spelled materialise. 
materially (ma-te'ri-al-i), adv. 1. With, in, by, 
or with reference to matter or material things ; 
from a material point of view; physically: as, 
to be well provided materially ; the state of the 
country materially considered. 2. As regards 
matter or substance; not formally; in itself 
considered. 
An ill intention is certainly sufficient to spoil and cor- 
rupt an act in itself materially good. South. 
3. In a material manner; to an important ex- 
tent or degree; essentially. 
It conduced materially to the security of good order. 
Hallam, Middle Ages, viii. 2. 
materialness (ma-te'ri-al-nes), n. The state 
or quality of being material; importance; es- 
sentiality. 
materia medica (ma-te'ri-a med'i-ka). [ML. 
NL., medical material: materia, material, mat- 
ter; medica, fern, of medicus, medical: see medic 1 , 
medical.'] 1. Medicinal agencies collectively ; 
the various remedial substances employed in 
medicine. 2. That branch of medical science 
which treats of the various substances, natural 
and artificial, which are employed in the prac- 
tice of medicine, and embraces an explanation 
of their nature and modes of action. 
materiariant (ma-te-ri-a'ri-an), n. [< LL. ma- 
teriarius, believing in the eternity of matter, < 
L. materia, matter: see matter and -ariait.~\ A 
materialist. Cudworth. 
materiatet (ma-te'ri-at), a. and n. [< L. mate- 
riatus, taken, not as pp. of materiare, build of 
wood, but as a mere adj., made of matter, < 
materia, matter: see material, matter.] I. a. 
1. Consisting of matter; material. 
A merely materiate being, if it live, borrows its life, as a 
thing foreign to it, and separable from it. 
J. Howe, Works (1848), I. 65. 
Gold, . . . the most ponderous and materiate amongst 
metalles. Bacon, Nat. Hist., 326. 
2. In metaph., united with matter; embodied 
in matter: said of an Aristotelian form. 
mat-grass 
II. . A material substance; a thing formed 
of matter. 
materiationt (ma-te-ri-a'shon), . [Cf. L. ma- 
trriutio(n-), woodwork, < materiare, build of 
wood, materiari, procure wood: see materiate."] 
1. A selling of timber for building. Bailey, 
1731. 2. In metapli., a making real by embody- 
ing in matter or visible form. 
Creation, that is, a production of all things out of no- 
thing ; a formation not only of matter but of form, and a 
mattriation even of matter itself. 
Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err., v. 1. 
materiature (ma-te'ri-a-tur), n. [< materiate + 
-are.] Materialization ; "the production by the 
soul of the matter of the body. J. H. Stirling. 
materiel (ma-ta-ri-el'), n. [F. : see material, 
.] The assemblage or totality of things used 
or needed in carrying on any complex business 
or operation, in distinction from the personnel, 
or body of persons, employed in the same : ap- 
plied more especially to military supplies and 
equipments, as arms, ammunition, baggage, 
provisions, horses, wagons, etc. 
materies (ma-te'ri-ez), n. [L. : see matter.] 
In some technical uses, material; a material; a 
matter or substance composing or peculiar to 
anything, or considered as an operative or cau- 
sative agency: as, materies morbi (something 
regarded as the immediate cause of disease). 
materioust (ma-te'ri-us), . [< LL. materiosvs, 
full of matter (woodf), < L. materia, matter, 
wood: see matter.] Same as material. Milton. 
maternal (ma-ter'nal), a. [= F. maternel = 
Pr. Sp. Pg. maternal = lt. maternale, <L. mater- 
nits, of a mother, < mater, mother: see mater 2 , 
mother 1 .] 1. Pertaining to a mother or to 
motherhood; proper to a mother; motherly: 
as, maternal love or authority ; maternal pains 
or cares. 
Ah, that maternal smile ! 
Cowper, On the Receipt of my Mother's Picture. 
We smile to see our little ones at play 
So grave, so thoughtful, with maternal care 
Nursing the wisps of rags they call their babes. 
0. W. Holmes, Idols. 
2. Relating to or consisting of mothers ; con- 
cerning the state of motherhood : as, a maternal 
association; a maternal hospital. 3. Coming 
from or through a mother ; imparted by or con- 
nected with one's mother: as, a maternal in- 
heritance ; a maternal uncle or cousin ; mater- 
nal ancestry or lineage. 
That part alone of gross maternal frame 
Fire shall devour. Gay, Apotheosis of Hercules. 
Clive ... is driven over the downs to Brighton, to his 
maternal aunt there. Thackeray, Newcomes, v. 
4. Of or pertaining to the country of one's 
birth ; native ; vernacular. 
English-speaking missionaries have planted their ma- 
ternal dialect at scores of important points. 
O. P. Marsh, Lects. on Eng. Lang., i. 
= Syn. Parental, etc. See motherly. 
maternality (ma-ter-nal'i-ti), n. [< matcrmil 
+ -ity.] Motherhood. Bailey, 1731. 
maternally (ma-ter'nal-i), adv. 1. In a mater- 
nal or motherly manner. 2. Through a mother, 
or on the maternal side: as, they are related 
maternally. 
maternity (ma-ter'ni-ti), n.; pi. maternities 
(-tiz). [< F. maternite'= Sp. maternidad = Pg. 
ma ternidade=It. ma tern i ta, < ML. ma ternita ( t-)s, 
< L. maternus, of a mother: see maternal.] 1. 
The state of being a mother ; motherhood. 
Her charity was the cause of her maternity. 
Partheneia Sacra (1683), p. 47. 
2. A place for the care of mothers in child- 
birth; a lying-in ward or hospital. [Bare.] 
The hospital contains 65 beds, and has also a large ex- 
tern maternity attached. Lancet, No. 3445, p. 509. 
Extern maternity. See extern. Maternity hospital. 
See hospital. 
matesbip (mat'ship), . [< wiote 1 -I- -strip.] 
Fellowship; companionship. [Rare.] 
I sat among them equally 
In fellowship and matezhip. as a child. 
Mrs. Browning, Aurora Leigh, vii. 
matfelont, . [Early mod. E. also materjilon; 
< ME. iiiatfcloii. matefelon, mat/clone, mattefelon 
(W. madfelen, < E.), < OF. matefelon, matefe- 
lun, mateflon, knapweed.] The knapweed, Cen- 
taurea nigra; also, C. scabioxu. 
Tak avaunce, matftlun, yarow, and sanygill, and stamp 
tham, and temper tham with stale ale, and drynk hit 
morn and even. lleliquice Antiquce, i. 53. 
mat-grass (mat'gras), /'. 1. Same as matweed. 
2. A European grass, Xardus siricta, which 
grows abundantly on moors and heaths in short 
tufts. It is worthless for agricultural purposes, 
except as affording a natural pasturage for 
sheep. Also called nartl. 
