Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Mat'eriel \Ma`t['e]`ri`el"\, n. [F. See {Material}.]
   That in a complex system which constitutes the materials, or
   instruments employed, in distinction from the personnel, or
   men; as, the baggage, munitions, provisions, etc., of an
   army; or the buildings, libraries, and apparatus of a
   college, in distinction from its officers.