Where does “matter” come from?
Matter comes from Middle English matere, from Latin mater meaning mother, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European méh₂tēr with the same sense.
matter (English): Substance, material; A condition, subject or...
Definitions
- Substance, material; A condition, subject or...
Ancestry of “matter”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | matere | Matter or stuff; that which things are composed... |
| 2 | Anglo-Norman | matere | — |
| 3 | Latin | māteria | matter; material; component stuff; substance |
| 4 | Latin | māter | mother female parent |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | mātēr | mother |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | méh₂tēr | mother |
Words derived from “matter”