Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Material \Ma*te"ri*al\, n.
   The substance or matter of which anything is made or may be
   made.

   {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.

Material \Ma*te"ri*al\, v. t.
   To form from matter; to materialize. [Obs.] --Sir T. Browne.

Material \Ma*te"ri*al\, a. [L. materialis, fr. materia stuff,
   matter: cf. F. mat['e]riel. See {Matter}, and cf.
   {Mat['E]riel}.]
   1. Consisting of matter; not spiritual; corporeal; physical;
      as, material substance or bodies.

            The material elements of the universe. --Whewell.

   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.

   3. Of solid or weighty character; not insubstantial; of
      cinsequence; not be dispensed with; important.

            Discourse, which was always material, never
            trifling.                             --Evelyn.

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

   4. (Logic.) Pertaining to the matter, as opposed to the form,
      of a thing. See {Matter}.

   {Material cause}. See under {Cause}.

   {Material evidence} (Law), evidence which conduces to the
      proof or disproof of a relevant hypothesis. --Wharton.

   Syn: Corporeal; bodily; important; weighty; momentous;
        essential.

Source : WordNet®

material
     adj 1: concerned with worldly rather than spiritual interests;
            "material possessions"; "material wealth"; "material
            comforts"
     2: derived from or composed of matter; "the material universe"
        [ant: {immaterial}]
     3: directly relevant to a matter especially a law case; "his
        support made a material difference"; "evidence material to
        the issue at hand"; "facts likely to influence the
        judgment are called material facts"; "a material witness"
        [ant: {immaterial}]
     4: concerned with or affecting physical as distinct from
        intellectual or psychological well-being; "material
        needs"; "the moral and material welfare of all good
        citizens"- T.Roosevelt
     5: having material or physical form or substance; "that which
        is created is of necessity corporeal and visible and
        tangible" - Benjamin Jowett [syn: {corporeal}] [ant: {incorporeal}]
     6: having substance or capable of being treated as fact; not
        imaginary; "the substantial world"; "a mere dream, neither
        substantial nor practical"; "most ponderous and
        substantial things"- Shakespeare [syn: {substantial}, {real}]
        [ant: {insubstantial}]

material
     n 1: the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a
          physical object; "coal is a hard black material"; "wheat
          is the stuff they use to make bread" [syn: {stuff}]
     2: information (data or ideas or observations) that can be used
        or reworked into a finished form; "the archives provided
        rich material for a definitive biography"
     3: things needed for doing or making something; "writing
        materials"; "useful teaching materials"
     4: artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting or
        crocheting natural or synthetic fibers; "the fabric in the
        curtains was light and semitraqnsparent"; "woven cloth
        originated in Mesopotamia around 5000 BC"; "she measured
        off enough material for a dress" [syn: {fabric}, {cloth},
        {textile}]
     5: a person judged suitable for admission or employment; "he
        was university material"; "she was vice-presidential
        material"