Definitions for Matter
ˈmæt ərMat·ter

Princeton's WordNet(2.89 / 16 votes)Rate this definition:

1. matter, affair, thing(noun)

   a vaguely specified concern

   "several matters to attend to"; "it is none of your affair"; "things are going well"

2. topic, subject, issue, matter(noun)

   some situation or event that is thought about

   "he kept drifting off the topic"; "he had been thinking about the subject for several years"; "it is a matter for the police"

3. matter(noun)

   that which has mass and occupies space

   "physicists study both the nature of matter and the forces which govern it"

4. matter(noun)

   a problem

   "is anything the matter?"

5. matter(noun)

   (used with negation) having consequence

   "they were friends and it was no matter who won the games"

6. matter(verb)

   written works (especially in books or magazines)

   "he always took some reading matter with him on the plane"

7. count, matter, weigh(verb)

   have weight; have import, carry weight

   "It does not matter much"

Wiktionary(3.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. matter(Noun)

   The basic structural component of the universe. Matter usually has mass and volume.

   Etymology: From mater, from materie, from materie, from materia (matter, stuff, material), derivative of Latin mater "mother". Displaced native andweorc (from andweorc), intinga.

2. matter(Noun)

   Matter made up of normal particles, not antiparticles. (Non-antimatter matter).

   Etymology: From mater, from materie, from materie, from materia (matter, stuff, material), derivative of Latin mater "mother". Displaced native andweorc (from andweorc), intinga.

3. matter(Noun)

   A kind of substance.

   vegetable matter

   Etymology: From mater, from materie, from materie, from materia (matter, stuff, material), derivative of Latin mater "mother". Displaced native andweorc (from andweorc), intinga.

4. matter(Noun)

   A condition, subject or affair, especially one of concern.

   Etymology: From mater, from materie, from materie, from materia (matter, stuff, material), derivative of Latin mater "mother". Displaced native andweorc (from andweorc), intinga.

5. matter(Noun)

   An approximate amount or extent.

   a matter of months; a matter of knowledge.

   Etymology: From mater, from materie, from materie, from materia (matter, stuff, material), derivative of Latin mater "mother". Displaced native andweorc (from andweorc), intinga.

6. matter(Noun)

   Written material (especially in books or magazines)

   He always took some reading matter with him on the plane

   Etymology: From mater, from materie, from materie, from materia (matter, stuff, material), derivative of Latin mater "mother". Displaced native andweorc (from andweorc), intinga.

7. matter(Noun)

   Aristotelian: undeveloped potentiality subject to change and development; formlessness. Matter receives form, and becomes substance.

   Etymology: From mater, from materie, from materie, from materia (matter, stuff, material), derivative of Latin mater "mother". Displaced native andweorc (from andweorc), intinga.

8. matter(Verb)

   To be important.

   Etymology: From mater, from materie, from materie, from materia (matter, stuff, material), derivative of Latin mater "mother". Displaced native andweorc (from andweorc), intinga.

9. matter(Verb)

   To care about, to mind; to find important.

   Etymology: From mater, from materie, from materie, from materia (matter, stuff, material), derivative of Latin mater "mother". Displaced native andweorc (from andweorc), intinga.

Wikipedia(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Matter

   In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic particles, and in everyday as well as scientific usage, "matter" generally includes atoms and anything made up of them, and any particles (or combination of particles) that act as if they have both rest mass and volume. However it does not include massless particles such as photons, or other energy phenomena or waves such as light or sound. Matter exists in various states (also known as phases). These include classical everyday phases such as solid, liquid, and gas – for example water exists as ice, liquid water, and gaseous steam – but other states are possible, including plasma, Bose–Einstein condensates, fermionic condensates, and quark–gluon plasma.Usually atoms can be imagined as a nucleus of protons and neutrons, and a surrounding "cloud" of orbiting electrons which "take up space". However this is only somewhat correct, because subatomic particles and their properties are governed by their quantum nature, which means they do not act as everyday objects appear to act – they can act like waves as well as particles and they do not have well-defined sizes or positions. In the Standard Model of particle physics, matter is not a fundamental concept because the elementary constituents of atoms are quantum entities which do not have an inherent "size" or "volume" in any everyday sense of the word. Due to the exclusion principle and other fundamental interactions, some "point particles" known as fermions (quarks, leptons), and many composites and atoms, are effectively forced to keep a distance from other particles under everyday conditions; this creates the property of matter which appears to us as matter taking up space. For much of the history of the natural sciences people have contemplated the exact nature of matter. The idea that matter was built of discrete building blocks, the so-called particulate theory of matter, independently appeared in ancient Greece and ancient India among Buddhists, Hindus and Jains in 1st-millennium BC. Ancient philosophers who proposed the particulate theory of matter include Kanada (c. 6th–century BC or after), Leucippus (~490 BC) and Democritus (~470–380 BC).

Webster Dictionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Matter(noun)

   that of which anything is composed; constituent substance; material; the material or substantial part of anything; the constituent elements of conception; that into which a notion may be analyzed; the essence; the pith; the embodiment

   Etymology: [OE. matere, F. matire, fr. L. materia; perh. akin to L. mater mother. Cf. Mother, Madeira, Material.]

2. Matter(noun)

   that of which the sensible universe and all existent bodies are composed; anything which has extension, occupies space, or is perceptible by the senses; body; substance

   Etymology: [OE. matere, F. matire, fr. L. materia; perh. akin to L. mater mother. Cf. Mother, Madeira, Material.]

3. Matter(noun)

   that with regard to, or about which, anything takes place or is done; the thing aimed at, treated of, or treated; subject of action, discussion, consideration, feeling, complaint, legal action, or the like; theme

   Etymology: [OE. matere, F. matire, fr. L. materia; perh. akin to L. mater mother. Cf. Mother, Madeira, Material.]

4. Matter(noun)

   that which one has to treat, or with which one has to do; concern; affair; business

   Etymology: [OE. matere, F. matire, fr. L. materia; perh. akin to L. mater mother. Cf. Mother, Madeira, Material.]

5. Matter(noun)

   affair worthy of account; thing of consequence; importance; significance; moment; -- chiefly in the phrases what matter ? no matter, and the like

   Etymology: [OE. matere, F. matire, fr. L. materia; perh. akin to L. mater mother. Cf. Mother, Madeira, Material.]

6. Matter(noun)

   inducing cause or occasion, especially of anything disagreeable or distressing; difficulty; trouble

   Etymology: [OE. matere, F. matire, fr. L. materia; perh. akin to L. mater mother. Cf. Mother, Madeira, Material.]

7. Matter(noun)

   amount; quantity; portion; space; -- often indefinite

   Etymology: [OE. matere, F. matire, fr. L. materia; perh. akin to L. mater mother. Cf. Mother, Madeira, Material.]

8. Matter(noun)

   substance excreted from living animal bodies; that which is thrown out or discharged in a tumor, boil, or abscess; pus; purulent substance

   Etymology: [OE. matere, F. matire, fr. L. materia; perh. akin to L. mater mother. Cf. Mother, Madeira, Material.]

9. Matter(noun)

   that which is permanent, or is supposed to be given, and in or upon which changes are effected by psychological or physical processes and relations; -- opposed to form

   Etymology: [OE. matere, F. matire, fr. L. materia; perh. akin to L. mater mother. Cf. Mother, Madeira, Material.]

10. Matter(noun)

    written manuscript, or anything to be set in type; copy; also, type set up and ready to be used, or which has been used, in printing

    Etymology: [OE. matere, F. matire, fr. L. materia; perh. akin to L. mater mother. Cf. Mother, Madeira, Material.]

11. Matter(verb)

    to be of importance; to import; to signify

    Etymology: [OE. matere, F. matire, fr. L. materia; perh. akin to L. mater mother. Cf. Mother, Madeira, Material.]

12. Matter(verb)

    to form pus or matter, as an abscess; to maturate

    Etymology: [OE. matere, F. matire, fr. L. materia; perh. akin to L. mater mother. Cf. Mother, Madeira, Material.]

13. Matter(verb)

    to regard as important; to take account of; to care for

    Etymology: [OE. matere, F. matire, fr. L. materia; perh. akin to L. mater mother. Cf. Mother, Madeira, Material.]

Freebase(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Matter

   Matter is a poorly-defined term in science. The term has often been used in reference to a substance that has rest mass. Matter is also used loosely as a general term for the substance that makes up all observable physical objects. All objects we see with the naked eye are composed of atoms. This atomic matter is in turn made up of interacting subatomic particles—usually a nucleus of protons and neutrons, and a cloud of orbiting electrons. Typically, science considers these composite particles matter because they have both rest mass and volume. By contrast, massless particles, such as photons, are not considered matter, because they have neither rest mass nor volume. However, not all particles with rest mass have a classical volume, since fundamental particles such as quarks and leptons are considered "point particles" with no effective size or volume. Nevertheless, quarks and leptons together make up "ordinary matter," and their interactions contribute to the effective volume of the composite particles that make up ordinary matter. Matter commonly exists in four states: solid, liquid and gas, and plasma. . However, advances in experimental techniques have revealed other previously theoretical phases, such as Bose–Einstein condensates and fermionic condensates. A focus on an elementary-particle view of matter also leads to new phases of matter, such as the quark–gluon plasma. For much of the history of the natural sciences people have contemplated the exact nature of matter. The idea that matter was built of discrete building blocks, the so-called particulate theory of matter, was first put forward by the Greek philosophers Leucippus and Democritus.²²

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(2.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Matter

   mat′ėr, n. that which occupies space, and with which we become acquainted by our bodily senses: that out of which anything is made: that which receiving a form becomes a substance: the subject or thing treated of: anything engaging the attention: that with which one has to do: cause of a thing: thing of consequence: something requiring remedy or explanation: any special allegation in law: importance: a measure, &c., of indefinite amount: (print.) material for work, type set up: mere dead substance, that which is thrown off by a living body, esp. pus, or the fluid in boils, tumours, and festering sores.—v.i. to be of importance: to signify: to form or discharge matter in a sore:—pr.p. matt′ering; pa.p. matt′ered.—adjs. Matt′erful, full of matter, pithy; Matt′erless; Matt′er-of-fact, adhering to the matter of fact: not fanciful: dry; Matt′ery, significant: purulent.—Matter of course, occurring in natural time and order, as a thing to be expected; Matter of fact, really happening and not fanciful or supposed: not wandering beyond realities. [O. Fr. matiere—L. materia, matter.]

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. matter

   That with regard to which anything takes place,—the subject of action, complaint, discussion, legal action, or the like. A word used in reference to courts-martial. The specific charges which are brought against a prisoner, and to which the court must strictly confine itself. Also applied to the evidence before a legal tribunal. New matter is new evidence not before considered.

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. matter

   A type and form of energy, color, consciousness, data, information, light and frequency.

   The matter within a building is very important.

   Submitted by MaryC on January 13, 2020  

Suggested Resources(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. matter

   Song lyrics by matter -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by matter on the Lyrics.com website.

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'Matter' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #581

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'Matter' in Written Corpus Frequency: #593

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'Matter' in Nouns Frequency: #122

4. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'Matter' in Verbs Frequency: #387

How to pronounce Matter?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say Matter in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of Matter in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of Matter in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of Matter in a Sentence

1. Frank Lloyd Wright:

   Youth is a quality, not a matter of circumstances.

2. David Cordani:

   It doesn’t matter what the pace is anymore; it’s the effort.

3. Jay Shambaugh:

   China is obviously in a different place than it was 20 years ago. It's now the second largest economy in the world. Things that happen in China matter to the global economy a lot more than they used to, there are always going to be bumps in the road and points in the transition that are difficult.

4. Chuck Schumer:

   I just heard Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell say Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's going to put another partisan proposal on the floor, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's going to talk to Kevin McCarthy and President Donald Trump and put something on the floor, the obvious fact of the matter is, the biggest impediment to getting an agreement is the Republican leader refusing to negotiate in a bipartisan way.

5. Justin Trudeau:

   In a democracy like ours, and in a space where we value our diversity so strongly, we're allowed to have disagreements and debate. We even encourage it, this matter has generated an important discussion -- how democratic institutions, specifically the federal ministry, and the staff and officials who support it, conduct themselves. It is critical and core to all of our principles.

Images & Illustrations of Matter

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