matter

noun

1. 1

   Material; substance. Anything with mass and volume.

2. 2

   Material; substance. Matter made up of normal particles, not antiparticles.

3. 3

   Material; substance. A kind of substance.

   vegetable matter

4. 4

   Material; substance. Printed material, especially in books or magazines.

   He always took some reading matter with him on the plane.

5. 5

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

6. 6

   An affair, condition, or subject, especially one of concern or (especially when preceded by the) one that is problematic.

   Something is the matter with him.

   The diplomats met to discuss state matters.

   So in many armies, if the matter ſhould bee tried by duell betvvene tvvo Champions, the victory ſhould goe on the one ſide, & yet if it be tried by the groſſe, it vvould goe on the other ſide: for excellencies goe as it vvere by chance, but kinds goe by a more certaine Nature, as by Diſcipline in vvarre.

   Son of God, Saviour of men! Thy name / Shall be the copious matter of my song.

7. 7

   An approximate amount or extent.

   I stayed for a matter of months.

   No small matter of British forces were commanded over sea the year before.

   Away he goes, […] a matter of seven miles.

   […] I have Thoughts to tarry a ſmall Matter in Town, to learn ſomewhat of your Lingo firſt, before I croſs the Seas.

8. 8

   Legal services provided by a lawyer or firm to their client in relation to a particular issue.

   Please find attached an invoice for three outstanding matters.

9. 9

   obsoleteEssence; pith; embodiment.

   He is the matter of virtue.

10. 10

    obsolete(The) inducing cause or reason, especially of anything disagreeable or distressing.

    And this is the matter why interpreters upon that passage in Hosea will not consent it to be a true story, that the prophet took a harlot to wife.

11. 11

    datedPus.

12. 12

    Importance.

    What matter if we unrewarded must strive, / If Wall Street and gamblers around it may thrive? / What matter if we doubly pay for our food / To support the monopolist kings of the road?

verb

1. 1

   To be important.

   The only thing that matters to Jim is being rich.

   Sorry for pouring ketchup on your clean white shirt! - Oh, don't worry, it does not matter.

   As a political system democracy seems to me extraordinarily foolish,[…]. My servant is, so far as I am concerned, welcome to as many votes as he can get.[…]I do not suppose that it matters much in reality whether laws are made by dukes or cornerboys, but I like, as far as possible, to associate with gentlemen in private life.

   Despite further attempts by Agbonlahor and Young, however, they could not find the goal to reward their endeavour. It mattered little as Newcastle's challenge faded and Villa began to dominate the game in midfield, and it was only Barton's continued sense of injustice that offered the visitors any spark in a tame contest.

2. 2

   To care about, to mind; to find important.

   Besides, if it had been out of doors I had not mattered it so much; but with my own servant, in my own house, under my own roof […]

   He matter'd not that, he said; coy maids made the fondest wives […].

3. 3

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

   Each slight sore mattereth.

Forms

plural

matters

past tense

mattered

past participle

mattered

present participle

mattering

third person singular

matters