*mater*

n. One who animates. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Consisting of the same material. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To deprive of material or physical qualities or characteristics. [ 1913 Webster ]

Dematerializing matter by stripping it of everything which . . . has distinguished matter. Milman. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ [ L., lit., hard mother. The membrane was called mater, or mother, because it was formerly thought to give rise to every membrane of the body. ] (Anat.) The tough, fibrous membrane, which lines the cavity of the skull and spinal column, and surrounds the brain and spinal cord; -- frequently abbreviated to dura. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. im- not + material: cf. F. immatériel. ] 1. Not consisting of matter; incorporeal; spiritual; disembodied. [ 1913 Webster ]

Angels are spirits immaterial and intellectual. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Of no substantial consequence; without weight or significance; unimportant; as, it is wholly immaterial whether he does so or not.

Syn. -- Unimportant; inconsequential; insignificant; inconsiderable; trifling. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. immatérialisme. ] 1. The doctrine that immaterial substances or spiritual being exist, or are possible. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Philos.) The doctrine that external bodies may be reduced to mind and ideas in a mind; any doctrine opposed to materialism or phenomenalism, esp. a system that maintains the immateriality of the soul; idealism; esp., Bishop Berkeley's theory of idealism. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. immatérialiste. ] (Philos.) One who believes in or professes, immaterialism. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Immaterialities [ Cf. F. immatérialité. ] The state or quality of being immaterial or incorporeal; as, the immateriality of the soul. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Cf. F. immatérialiser. ] To render immaterial or incorporeal. [ 1913 Webster ]

Immateralized spirits. Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. 1. In an immaterial manner; without matter or corporeal substance. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. In an unimportant manner or degree. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or quality of being immaterial; immateriality. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Immaterial. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. A great nature goddess of ancient Phrygia in Asia Minor; the counterpart of the Greek Rhea and the Roman Ops.
Syn. -- Cybele, Dindymene, Great Mother, Mater Turrita. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖n. [ L., mother. See Mother. ] See Alma mater, Dura mater, and Pia mater. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. materialis, fr. materia stuff, matter: cf. F. matériel. See Matter, and cf. Matériel. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Consisting of matter; not spiritual; corporeal; physical; as, material substance or bodies. [ 1913 Webster ]

The material elements of the universe. Whewell. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence: Pertaining to, or affecting, the physical nature of man, as distinguished from the mental or moral nature; relating to the bodily wants, interests, and comforts; as, material well-being; material comforts. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Of solid or weighty character; not insubstantial; of consequence; not be dispensed with; important; significant. [ 1913 Webster ]

Discourse, which was always material, never trifling. Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

I shall, in the account of simple ideas, set down only such as are most material to our present purpose. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Logic.) Pertaining to the matter, as opposed to the form, of a thing. See Matter. [ 1913 Webster ]

Material cause. See under Cause. --
Material evidence (Law), evidence which conduces to the proof or disproof of a relevant hypothesis. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Corporeal; bodily; important; weighty; momentous; essential. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The substance or matter of which anything is made or may be made. [ 1913 Webster ]

Raw material, any crude, unfinished, or elementary materials that are adapted to use only by processes of skilled labor. Cotton, wool, ore, logs, etc., are raw material. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To form from matter; to materialize. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. matérialisme. ] 1. The doctrine of materialists; materialistic views and tenets; called also philosophical materialism. [ 1913 Webster ]

The irregular fears of a future state had been supplanted by the materialism of Epicurus. Buckminster. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The tendency to give undue importance to material interests as contrasted with spiritual concerns; devotion to the material nature and its wants. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Material substances in the aggregate; matter. [ R. & Obs. ] A. Chalmers. [ 1913 Webster ]

philosophical materialism The theory that matter and energy are the only objects existing within the universe, and that mental and spiritual phenomena are explainable as functions of the nervous system of people. Same as materialism{ 1 }. [ PJC ]

n. [ Cf. F. matérialiste. ] 1. One who denies the existence of spiritual substances or agents, and maintains that spiritual phenomena, so called, are the result of some peculiar organization of matter. A believer in philosophical materialism. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

2. One who holds to the existence of matter, as distinguished from the idealist, who denies it. Berkeley. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. Of or pertaining to materialism or materialists; of the nature of materialism. [ 1913 Webster ]

But to me his very spiritualism seemed more materialistic than his physics. C. Kingsley. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Primarily concerned with material objects and worldly activities, as contrasted with spiritual, moral or philosophical concerns; especially, concerned primarily with gaining money and the things that money can buy. [ PJC ]

n. [ Cf. F. matérialité. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The quality or state of being material; material existence; corporeity. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Importance; as, the materiality of facts. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of materializing, or the state of being materialized. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Materialized p. pr. & vb. n. Materializing ] [ Cf. F. matérialiser. ] 1. To invest with material characteristics; to make perceptible to the senses; hence, to present to the mind through the medium of material objects. [ 1913 Webster ]

Having with wonderful art and beauty materialized, if I may so call it, a scheme of abstracted notions, and clothed the most nice, refined conceptions of philosophy in sensible images. Tatler. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To regard as matter; to consider or explain by the laws or principles which are appropriate to matter. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To cause to assume a character appropriate to material things; to occupy with material interests; as, to materialize thought. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Spiritualism) To make visable in, or as in, a material form; -- said of spirits. [ 1913 Webster ]

A female spirit form temporarily materialized, and not distinguishable from a human being. Epes Sargent. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To appear as a material form; to take substantial shape. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To come into existence; as, the promised donations never materialized. [ PJC ]

adv. 1. In the state of matter. [ 1913 Webster ]

I do not mean that anything is separable from a body by fire that was not materially preexistent in it. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. In its essence; substantially. [ 1913 Webster ]

An ill intention is certainly sufficient to spoil . . . an act in itself materially good. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. In an important manner or degree; essentially; as, it materially concerns us to know the real motives of our actions. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being material. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ [ L. See Matter, and Medical. ] 1. Material or substance used in the composition of remedies; -- a general term for all substances used as curative agents in medicine. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That branch of medical science which treats of the sources, nature and properties of all the substances that are employed for the cure of diseases, primarily with natural preparations, rather than pure or synthetic medicines; pharmacognosy. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

n. [ L. materiarius. ] See Materialist. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ L. materiatus, p. p. of materiare to build of wood. ] Consisting of matter. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. materiatio woodwork. ] Act of forming matter. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F. See Material. ] Those objects in a complex system which constitute the materials, or instruments employed, in distinction from the personnel, or men; for example, the buildings, libraries, and apparatus of a college, in distinction from its officers; -- used in a collective sense. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Specifically: (Military) The arms, munitions, baggage, equipment, provisions, etc., of an army. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. See Material. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. maternel, L. maternus, fr. mater mother. See Mother. ] Of or pertaining to a mother; becoming to a mother; motherly; as, maternal love; maternal tenderness. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- See Motherly. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. showing maternal instincts; behaving as a mother should; motherly. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adv. In a motherly manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. maternité, LL. maternitas. ] 1. The state of being a mother; motherhood. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The character of a mother; maternal quality; motherliness. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The maternity ward; the maternity department of a hospital. [ PJC ]

a. 1. Of or pertaining to childbirth or the period during which a woman is pregnant; as, maternity care; a maternity hospital. [ PJC ]

2. For use during pregnancy; as, a maternity outfit. [ PJC ]

n. The section of a hospital devoted to assisting women during childbirth and caring for them and their newborn infants until they are released to go home. [ PJC ]

‖n.; pl. Osmateria [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_; smell. ] (Zool.) One of a pair of scent organs which the larvae of certain butterflies emit from the first body segment, either above or below. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL., fr. Gr. fy^kos seaweed + L. mater mother. ] (Bot.) A gelatin in which the algae spores have been supposed to vegetate. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ [ NL., fr. L. pia (fem. of pius tender, kind) + mater mother. ] (Anat.) The delicate and highly vascular membrane immediately investing the brain and spinal cord. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ [ L., the mother was standing. ] A celebrated Latin hymn, beginning with these words, commemorating the sorrows of the mother of our Lord at the foot of the cross. It is read in the Mass of the Sorrows of the Virgin Mary, and is sung by Catholics when making “the way of the cross” (Via Crucis). See Station, 7 (c). [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Being above, or superior to, matter. [ 1913 Webster ]