Of, relating to, or consisting of matter, especially physical.
What is material?
• Of, relating to, or affecting physical well-being; corporeal; bodily.
• Of or relating to the matter of reasoning, as distinguished from the form of it, especially empirical.
• Having real importance or great consequences; significant; substantial.
• Relating to or concerned with what is purely physical rather than intellectual or spiritual, especially excessively so; materialistic.
• Full of substance or otherwise meaning.
• In an important degree.
(Noun) A basic matter (as metal, wood, plastic, fiber, etc.) from which the whole or the greater part of something physical (as a machine, tool, building, fabric, etc.) is made.
• A person, or people collectively, who are qualified or suited for a certain position or activity.
• Apparatus for doing or making something.
• Something (as data, observations, perceptions or ideas) that may be incorporated, elaborated or otherwise reworked into a finished form or new form, or may serve as the basis for arriving at interpretations, judgments or conclusions.
• Fabric, which can be made into a garments, curtains, etc; especially, woven fabric (cloth).
• The elements, constituents or substance of which something physical or non-physical composed of or can be made of.
• An element of a design language associated with a certain style of rendering on the display.
• All of a player's pieces and pawns on the chessboard, excluding the king.
• The ingredients for making whisky punch.
• The materiel of an army.
• Things that are material.
(Verb) To form from matter; to materialize.
Why material matters
material appears in U.S. legal practice across multiple practice areas. Knowing what it means — and when it applies — can determine the outcome of motions, filings, and negotiations. For non-lawyers, the value of looking up a precise definition is that legal terms often carry meanings that differ from everyday usage; relying on the common meaning can lead to costly missteps.
How material works in practice
In practice, material is invoked when parties, judges, or attorneys need to identify the legal status of an issue, the rights of those involved, or the procedural step required next. The definition shown above is sourced from Wiktionary , which is widely cited in U.S. legal practice. Because U.S. law is jurisdictionally layered — federal, state, and sometimes local — the precise application of the term can vary by court, so check the controlling authority for your specific case.