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matter

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also:Matterandmåtter

English

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Etymology

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FromMiddle Englishmatere,mater, fromAnglo-Normanmatere, materie, fromOld Frenchmaterie, matiere, fromLatinmāteria(“wood”), frommāter(“mother”), in which case cognate withOld Armenianմայր(mayr,“cedar”) andմայրի(mayri,“forest”).Doublet ofMadeira,mata,mater,matrix, andmother.

DisplacedMiddle Englishandweorc, andwork(“material, matter”), fromOld Englishandweorc(“matter, substance, material”),Old Englishintinga(“matter, affair, business”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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matter (countable anduncountable,pluralmatters)

  1. (uncountable)Material;substance.
    2. (physics) Anything withmass andvolume.
    3. (physics) Matter made up of normalparticles, notantiparticles.
      Antonym:antimatter
    4. A kind of substance.
      vegetablematter
    5. Printed material, especially inbooks ormagazines.
      He always took some readingmatter with him on the plane.
    6. (philosophy)Aristotelian:undevelopedpotentiality subject tochange anddevelopment;formlessness.Matter receivesform, and becomessubstance.
  2. Anaffair,condition, orsubject, especially one ofconcern or (especially when preceded bythe) one that isproblematic.
    Something is thematter with him.
    The diplomats met to discuss statematters.
    • 1597,Francis [Bacon], “Of the Colours of Good and Evill, a Fragment”, inThe Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland […], published1632,→OCLC:
      So in many armies, if thematter 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.
    • 1667,John Milton, “Book III”, inParadise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […];[a]nd by Robert Boulter […];[a]nd Matthias Walker, […],→OCLC; republished asParadise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […],1873,→OCLC:
      Son of God, Saviour of men! Thy name / Shall be the copiousmatter of my song.
    • 1611,The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […],→OCLC,Exodusxviii:22:
      Every greatmatter they shall bring unto thee, but every smallmatter they shall judge.
    • 1897 December (indicated as1898),Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, inThe Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.:The Macmillan Company; London:Macmillan & Co., Ltd.,→OCLC:
      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 thematter in its true proportions, and her anticipation of a possible chance of teaching him a lesson was a pleasure to behold.
    • 2012 July 12, Sam Adams, “Ice Age: Continental Drift”, inAV Club:
      Thematter 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.
  3. Anapproximateamount orextent.
    I stayed for amatter of months.
  4. (countable, law)Legalservices provided by alawyer orfirm to theirclient in relation to a particularissue.
    Please find attached an invoice for three outstandingmatters.
  5. (obsolete)Essence;pith;embodiment.
  6. (obsolete) (The)inducingcause orreason, especially of anythingdisagreeable ordistressing.
  7. (dated, medicine)Pus.
  8. (uncountable)Importance.
    • 1880, Bernard Nulty,The Patriot Chief: And Other Poems, page211:
      Whatmatter if we unrewarded must strive, / If Wall Street and gamblers around it may thrive? / Whatmatter if we doubly pay for our food / To support the monopolist kings of the road?

Usage notes

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  • As regards sense 2 ("an affair, condition, or subject, especially one of concern or one that is problematic"), the phrasethe matter can in most cases be replaced by theadjectivewrong. Thus, a phrase like "there is nothing the matter" can be reworded as "there is nothing wrong".

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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basic structural component of the universe
non-antimatter matter
kind of substance
reason for concern—see alsoissue
situation, condition, subject or affair
cause—see alsocause
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb

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matter (third-person singular simple presentmatters,present participlemattering,simple past and past participlemattered)

  1. (intransitive, stative) To beimportant.[from 16th c.]
    The only thing thatmatters to Jim is being rich.
    Sorry for pouring ketchup on your clean white shirt! - Oh, don't worry, it does notmatter.
    • 1915,G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, inGossamer, New York, N.Y.:George H. Doran Company,→OCLC:
      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 itmatters 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.
    • 2011 April 10, Alistair Magowan, “Aston Villa 1-0 Newcastle”, inBBC Sport:
      Despite further attempts by Agbonlahor and Young, however, they could not find the goal to reward their endeavour.
      Itmattered 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.
    • 2025 October 15, Philip Haigh, “Merseyrail leads in an unlevel playing field”, inRAIL, number1046, page51:
      Not all platforms are equal. Some are busier and thus more important than others. A rural station that doesn't complymatters less than a major London terminus.
  2. (transitive, in negative constructions, now England regional, Caribbean) Tocare about, tomind; to find important.[from 17th c.]
  3. (intransitive, medicine, archaic) To formpus ormatter, as anabscess; tomaturate.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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to be important

Further reading

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French

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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matter

  1. alternative spelling ofmater

Conjugation

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Conjugation ofmatter(see alsoAppendix:French verbs)
infinitivesimplematter
compoundavoir + past participle
present participle orgerund1simplemattant
/ma.tɑ̃/
compoundayant + past participle
past participlematté
/ma.te/
singularplural
firstsecondthirdfirstsecondthird
indicativeje (j’)tuil, elle, onnousvousils, elles
(simple
tenses)		presentmatte
/mat/		mattes
/mat/		matte
/mat/		mattons
/ma.tɔ̃/		mattez
/ma.te/		mattent
/mat/
imperfectmattais
/ma.tɛ/		mattais
/ma.tɛ/		mattait
/ma.tɛ/		mattions
/ma.tjɔ̃/		mattiez
/ma.tje/		mattaient
/ma.tɛ/
past historic2mattai
/ma.te/		mattas
/ma.ta/		matta
/ma.ta/		mattâmes
/ma.tam/		mattâtes
/ma.tat/		mattèrent
/ma.tɛʁ/
futurematterai
/ma.tʁe/		matteras
/ma.tʁa/		mattera
/ma.tʁa/		matterons
/ma.tʁɔ̃/		matterez
/ma.tʁe/		matteront
/ma.tʁɔ̃/
conditionalmatterais
/ma.tʁɛ/		matterais
/ma.tʁɛ/		matterait
/ma.tʁɛ/		matterions
/ma.tə.ʁjɔ̃/		matteriez
/ma.tə.ʁje/		matteraient
/ma.tʁɛ/
(compound
tenses)		present perfectpresent indicative ofavoir + past participle
pluperfectimperfect indicative ofavoir + past participle
past anterior2past historic ofavoir + past participle
future perfectfuture ofavoir + past participle
conditional perfectconditional ofavoir + past participle
subjunctiveque je (j’)que tuqu’il, qu’elleque nousque vousqu’ils, qu’elles
(simple
tenses)		presentmatte
/mat/		mattes
/mat/		matte
/mat/		mattions
/ma.tjɔ̃/		mattiez
/ma.tje/		mattent
/mat/
imperfect2mattasse
/ma.tas/		mattasses
/ma.tas/		mattât
/ma.ta/		mattassions
/ma.ta.sjɔ̃/		mattassiez
/ma.ta.sje/		mattassent
/ma.tas/
(compound
tenses)		pastpresent subjunctive ofavoir + past participle
pluperfect2imperfect subjunctive ofavoir + past participle
imperative–tu–nousvous–
simple—matte
/mat/		—mattons
/ma.tɔ̃/		mattez
/ma.te/		—
compound—simple imperative ofavoir + past participle—simple imperative ofavoir + past participlesimple imperative ofavoir + past participle—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the prepositionen.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
past historic → present perfect
past anterior → pluperfect
imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive
pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive

(Christopher Kendris [1995],Master the Basics: French, pp.77,78,79,81).

Anagrams

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German

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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matter

  1. comparative degree ofmatt
  2. inflection ofmatt:
    1. strong/mixednominativemasculinesingular
    2. stronggenitive/dativefemininesingular
    3. stronggenitiveplural

Middle French

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Alternative forms

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Verb

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matter

  1. tocheckmate

Conjugation

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  • Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
Conjugation ofmatter
infinitivesimplematter
compoundavoir + past participle
present participle1 orgerund2simplemattant
compoundpresent participle or gerund ofavoir + past participle
past participlematté
singularplural
firstsecondthirdfirstsecondthird
indicativeie (i’)tuil, ellenousvousilz, elles
(simple
tenses)		presentmattemattesmattemattonsmattezmattent
imperfectmattois,mattoysmattois,mattoysmattoit,mattoytmattions,mattyonsmattiez,mattyezmattoient,mattoyent
past historicmattamattasmattamattasmesmattastesmatterent
futurematterai,matteraymatterasmatteramatteronsmatterezmatteront
conditionalmatterois,matteroysmatterois,matteroysmatteroit,matteroytmatterions,matteryonsmatteriez,matteryezmatteroient,matteroyent
(compound
tenses)		present perfectpresent indicative ofavoir + past participle
pluperfectimperfect indicative ofavoir + past participle
past anteriorpast historic ofavoir + past participle
future perfectfuture ofavoir + past participle
conditional perfectconditional ofavoir + past participle
subjunctiveque ie (i’)que tuqu’il, qu’elleque nousque vousqu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple
tenses)		presentmattemattesmattemattonsmattezmattent
imperfectmattassemattassesmattastmattassionsmattassiezmattassent
(compound
tenses)		pastpresent subjunctive ofavoir + past participle
pluperfectimperfect subjunctive ofavoir + past participle
imperative–tu–nousvous–
simple—matte—mattonsmattez—
compound—simple imperative ofavoir + past participle—simple imperative ofavoir + past participlesimple imperative ofavoir + past participle—
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995],Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p.179). TheFrench Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with prepositionen, as inModern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995],op. cit., p.180).

Norwegian Bokmål

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Noun

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matter m pl orf pl

  1. indefiniteplural ofmatte (Etymology 1)

Norwegian Nynorsk

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Noun

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matter f pl

  1. indefiniteplural ofmatte (Etymology 1)
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