matter

See also: Matter and måtter

English

Etymology

From Middle English mater, matere, from Anglo-Norman matere, materie, from Old French materie, matiere, from Latin materia (“matter, stuff, material”), derivative of Latin mater (“mother”). Displaced native Middle English andweorc, andwork (“material, matter”) (from Old English andweorc (“matter, substance, material”)), Old English intinga (“matter, affair, business”).

Pronunciation

Noun

matter (countable and uncountable, plural matters)

  1. Substance, material.
    1. (physics) The basic structural component of the universe. Matter usually has mass and volume.
    2. (physics) Matter made up of normal particles, not antiparticles. (Non-antimatter matter).
    3. A kind of substance.
      vegetable matter
    4. Written material (especially in books or magazines).
      printed matter;   He always took some reading matter with him on the plane.
    5. (philosophy) Aristotelian: undeveloped potentiality subject to change and development; formlessness. Matter receives form, and becomes substance.
  2. A condition, subject or affair, especially one of concern.
    What's the matter?;   state matters
    • Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
      if the matter should be tried by duel
    • John Milton (1608-1674)
      Son of God, Saviour of men! Thy name / Shall be the copious matter of my song.
    • Bible, Exodus xviii. 22
      Every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 8, in The Celebrity:
      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.
    • 12 July 2012, Sam Adams, AV Club Ice Age: Continental Drift
      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.
  3. An approximate amount or extent.
    I stayed for a matter of months.
    • John Milton (1608-1674)
      No small matter of British forces were commanded over sea the year before.
    • Roger L'Estrange (1616-1704)
      Away he goes, […] a matter of seven miles.
    • William Congreve (1670-1729)
      I have thoughts to tarry a small matter.
  4. (obsolete) The essence; the pith; the embodiment.
    • Ben Jonson (1572-1637)
      He is the matter of virtue.
  5. (obsolete) Inducing cause or reason, especially of anything disagreeable or distressing.
    • John Milton (1608-1674)
      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.
  6. (dated) Pus.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Verb

matter (third-person singular simple present matters, present participle mattering, simple past and past participle mattered)

  1. (intransitive) To be important.
    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.
    • 1915, George A. Birmingham, “chapter I”, in Gossamer (Project Gutenberg; EBook #24394), London: Methuen & Co., published 8 January 2013 (Project Gutenberg version), OCLC 558189256:
      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.
    • 2011 April 10, Alistair Magowan, “Aston Villa 1-0 Newcastle”, in BBC Sport:
      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.
  2. (transitive, obsolete outside dialects) To care about, to mind; to find important.
  3. To form pus or matter, as an abscess; to maturate.

Derived terms

Synonyms

Translations

French

Verb

matter

  1. Alternative spelling of mater

Conjugation

Anagrams

German

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈmatɐ/
  • Audio (Austria)(file)
  • Audio(file)

Adjective

matter

  1. strong masculine singular nominative form of matt.
  2. strong feminine singular genitive form of matt.
  3. strong feminine singular dative form of matt.
  4. strong plural genitive form of matt.
  5. mixed masculine singular nominative form of matt.
  6. comparative degree of matt

Middle French

Alternative forms

Verb

matter

  1. to checkmate

Conjugation

  • Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
   Conjugation of matter
simple compound
infinitive matter avoir [[{{{1}}}é#Middle French|{{{1}}}é]]
gerund en [[{{{1}}}ant#Middle French|{{{1}}}ant]] Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle
present participle [[{{{1}}}ant#Middle French|{{{1}}}ant]]
past participle [[{{{1}}}é#Middle French|{{{1}}}é]]
person singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative ie (may be i' before a vowel) tu il nous vous ilz, elles
simple
tenses		 present [[{{{1}}}e#Middle French|{{{1}}}e]] [[{{{1}}}es#Middle French|{{{1}}}es]] [[{{{1}}}e#Middle French|{{{1}}}e]] [[{{{1}}}ons#Middle French|{{{1}}}ons]] [[{{{1}}}ez#Middle French|{{{1}}}ez]] [[{{{1}}}ent#Middle French|{{{1}}}ent]]
imperfect [[{{{1}}}ois#Middle French|{{{1}}}ois]], [[{{{1}}}oys#Middle French|{{{1}}}oys]] [[{{{1}}}ois#Middle French|{{{1}}}ois]], [[{{{1}}}oys#Middle French|{{{1}}}oys]] [[{{{1}}}oit#Middle French|{{{1}}}oit]], [[{{{1}}}oyt#Middle French|{{{1}}}oyt]] [[{{{1}}}ions#Middle French|{{{1}}}ions]], [[{{{1}}}yons#Middle French|{{{1}}}yons]] [[{{{1}}}iez#Middle French|{{{1}}}iez]], [[{{{1}}}yez#Middle French|{{{1}}}yez]] [[{{{1}}}oient#Middle French|{{{1}}}oient]], [[{{{1}}}oyent#Middle French|{{{1}}}oyent]]
past historic [[{{{1}}}a#Middle French|{{{1}}}a]] [[{{{1}}}as#Middle French|{{{1}}}as]] [[{{{1}}}a#Middle French|{{{1}}}a]] [[{{{1}}}asmes#Middle French|{{{1}}}asmes]] [[{{{1}}}astes#Middle French|{{{1}}}astes]] [[{{{1}}}erent#Middle French|{{{1}}}erent]]
future [[{{{1}}}erai#Middle French|{{{1}}}erai]], [[{{{1}}}eray#Middle French|{{{1}}}eray]] [[{{{1}}}eras#Middle French|{{{1}}}eras]] [[{{{1}}}era#Middle French|{{{1}}}era]] [[{{{1}}}erons#Middle French|{{{1}}}erons]] [[{{{1}}}erez#Middle French|{{{1}}}erez]] [[{{{1}}}eront#Middle French|{{{1}}}eront]]
conditional [[{{{1}}}erois#Middle French|{{{1}}}erois]], [[{{{1}}}eroys#Middle French|{{{1}}}eroys]] [[{{{1}}}erois#Middle French|{{{1}}}erois]], [[{{{1}}}eroys#Middle French|{{{1}}}eroys]] [[{{{1}}}eroit#Middle French|{{{1}}}eroit]], [[{{{1}}}eroyt#Middle French|{{{1}}}eroyt]] [[{{{1}}}erions#Middle French|{{{1}}}erions]], [[{{{1}}}eryons#Middle French|{{{1}}}eryons]] [[{{{1}}}eriez#Middle French|{{{1}}}eriez]], [[{{{1}}}eryez#Middle French|{{{1}}}eryez]] [[{{{1}}}eroient#Middle French|{{{1}}}eroient]], [[{{{1}}}eroyent#Middle French|{{{1}}}eroyent]]
compound
tenses		 present perfect Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle
pluperfect Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle
past anterior Use the past historic tense of avoir followed by the past participle
future perfect Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle
conditional perfect Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle
subjunctive que ie que tu qu'il que nous que vous qu'ilz, qu'elles
simple
tenses		 present [[{{{1}}}e#Middle French|{{{1}}}e]] [[{{{1}}}es#Middle French|{{{1}}}es]] [[{{{1}}}e#Middle French|{{{1}}}e]] [[{{{1}}}ons#Middle French|{{{1}}}ons]] [[{{{1}}}ez#Middle French|{{{1}}}ez]] [[{{{1}}}ent#Middle French|{{{1}}}ent]]
imperfect [[{{{1}}}asse#Middle French|{{{1}}}asse]] [[{{{1}}}asses#Middle French|{{{1}}}asses]] [[{{{1}}}ast#Middle French|{{{1}}}ast]] [[{{{1}}}assions#Middle French|{{{1}}}assions]] [[{{{1}}}assiez#Middle French|{{{1}}}assiez]] [[{{{1}}}assent#Middle French|{{{1}}}assent]]
compound
tenses		 past Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
pluperfect Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
— [[{{{1}}}e#Middle French|{{{1}}}e]] — [[{{{1}}}ons#Middle French|{{{1}}}ons]] [[{{{1}}}ez#Middle French|{{{1}}}ez]] —

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

matter m pl, f pl

  1. indefinite plural of matte (Etymology 1)

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

matter f pl

  1. indefinite plural of matte (Etymology 1)
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