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Wiktionary

matter

See also: Matter and måtter

English

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Etymology

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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, mata, mater, matrix, and mother.

Displaced Middle English andweorc, andwork (“material, matter”), from Old English andweorc (“matter, substance, material”), Old English intinga (“matter, affair, business”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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matter (countable and uncountable, plural matters)

  1. (uncountable) Material; substance.
    1. (physics) Anything with mass.
    2. (physics) Matter made up of normal particles, not antiparticles.
      Antonym: antimatter
    3. A kind of substance.
      vegetable matter
    4. Printed material, especially in books or magazines.
      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. An affair, condition, or subject, especially one of concern or (especially when preceded by the) one that is problematic.
    Something is the matter with him.
    The diplomats met to discuss state matters.
    • 1597, Francis [Bacon], “Of the Colours of Good and Evill, a Fragment”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland […], published 1632, →OCLC:
      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.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
      Son of God, Saviour of men! Thy name / Shall be the copious matter of my song.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus xviii:22:
      Every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge.
    • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The 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 the matter 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”, in AV Club:
      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.
  4. (countable, law) Legal services provided by a lawyer or firm to their client in relation to a particular issue.
    Please find attached an invoice for three outstanding matters.
  5. (obsolete) Essence; pith; embodiment.
  6. (obsolete) (The) inducing cause or reason, especially of anything disagreeable or distressing.
  7. (dated, medicine) Pus.
  8. (uncountable) Importance.
    • 1880, Bernard Nulty, The Patriot Chief: And Other Poems, page 211:
      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?

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 phrase the matter can in most cases be replaced by the adjective wrong. 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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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb

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

  1. (intransitive, stative) To be important. [from 16th c.]
    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, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, 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 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, in negative constructions, now England regional, Caribbean) To care about, to mind; to find important. [from 17th c.]
  3. (intransitive, medicine, archaic) To form pus or matter, as an abscess; to maturate.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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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 of mater

Conjugation

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Conjugation of matter (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive simple matter
compound avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1 simple mattant
/ma.tɑ̃/
compound ayant + past participle
past participle matté
/ma.te/
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il, elle, on nous vous ils, elles
(simple
tenses) 		present matte
/mat/ 		mattes
/mat/ 		matte
/mat/ 		mattons
/ma.tɔ̃/ 		mattez
/ma.te/ 		mattent
/mat/
imperfect mattais
/ma.tɛ/ 		mattais
/ma.tɛ/ 		mattait
/ma.tɛ/ 		mattions
/ma.tjɔ̃/ 		mattiez
/ma.tje/ 		mattaient
/ma.tɛ/
past historic2 mattai
/ma.te/ 		mattas
/ma.ta/ 		matta
/ma.ta/ 		mattâmes
/ma.tam/ 		mattâtes
/ma.tat/ 		mattèrent
/ma.tɛʁ/
future matterai
/ma.tʁe/ 		matteras
/ma.tʁa/ 		mattera
/ma.tʁa/ 		matterons
/ma.tʁɔ̃/ 		matterez
/ma.tʁe/ 		matteront
/ma.tʁɔ̃/
conditional matterais
/ma.tʁɛ/ 		matterais
/ma.tʁɛ/ 		matterait
/ma.tʁɛ/ 		matterions
/ma.tə.ʁjɔ̃/ 		matteriez
/ma.tə.ʁje/ 		matteraient
/ma.tʁɛ/
(compound
tenses) 		present perfect present indicative of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
past anterior2 past historic of avoir + past participle
future perfect future of avoir + past participle
conditional perfect conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive que je (j’) que tu qu’il, qu’elle que nous que vous qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple
tenses) 		present matte
/mat/ 		mattes
/mat/ 		matte
/mat/ 		mattions
/ma.tjɔ̃/ 		mattiez
/ma.tje/ 		mattent
/mat/
imperfect2 mattasse
/ma.tas/ 		mattasses
/ma.tas/ 		mattât
/ma.ta/ 		mattassions
/ma.ta.sjɔ̃/ 		mattassiez
/ma.ta.sje/ 		mattassent
/ma.tas/
(compound
tenses) 		past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect2 imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — matte
/mat/ 		— mattons
/ma.tɔ̃/ 		mattez
/ma.te/ 		—
compound — simple imperative of avoir + past participle — simple imperative of avoir + past participle simple imperative of avoir + past participle —
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
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 of matt
  2. inflection of matt:
    1. strong/mixed nominative masculine singular
    2. strong genitive/dative feminine singular
    3. strong genitive plural

Middle French

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Alternative forms

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Verb

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matter

  1. to checkmate

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 of matter
infinitive simple matter
compound avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2 simple mattant
compound present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle matté
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative ie (i’) tu il, elle nous vous ilz, elles
(simple
tenses) 		present matte mattes matte mattons mattez mattent
imperfect mattois, mattoys mattois, mattoys mattoit, mattoyt mattions, mattyons mattiez, mattyez mattoient, mattoyent
past historic matta mattas matta mattasmes mattastes matterent
future matterai, matteray matteras mattera matterons matterez matteront
conditional matterois, matteroys matterois, matteroys matteroit, matteroyt matterions, matteryons matteriez, matteryez matteroient, matteroyent
(compound
tenses) 		present perfect present indicative of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
past anterior past historic of avoir + past participle
future perfect future of avoir + past participle
conditional perfect conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive que ie (i’) que tu qu’il, qu’elle que nous que vous qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple
tenses) 		present matte mattes matte mattons mattez mattent
imperfect mattasse mattasses mattast mattassions mattassiez mattassent
(compound
tenses) 		past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — matte — mattons mattez —
compound — simple imperative of avoir + past participle — simple imperative of avoir + past participle simple imperative of avoir + 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). The French 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 preposition en, as in Modern 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 or f pl

  1. indefinite plural of matte (Etymology 1)

Norwegian Nynorsk

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Noun

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matter f pl

  1. indefinite plural of matte (Etymology 1)
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