Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “material” come from?

Material comes from Middle English material, from Latin materialis, formed from Latin materia with the suffix -alis, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European méh₂tēr meaning mother.

material (English): Having to do with matter; consisting of matter;...

Definitions

  1. Having to do with matter; consisting of matter;...

Ancestry of “material”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishmaterialExtant in matter or having physical form;...
2Late Latinmaterialismaterial
3Latinmāteria—
4Latinmāter—
5Proto-Italicmātērmother
6Proto-Indo-Europeanméh₂tērmother

Words derived from “material”

  • immaterial
  • materialistic
  • materiality
  • materialist
  • materialize
  • materialization
  • materialise
  • nonmaterial
  • immateriality
  • biomaterial
  • materialisation
  • dematerialization
  • nanomaterial
  • metamaterial
  • postmaterialist
  • dematerialize
  • immaterialism
  • materialistically
  • dematerialisation
  • postmaterial
  • immaterially
  • immaterialist
  • antimaterialist
  • bimaterial
Every word from Proto-Indo-European méh₂tēr →