immaterial en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /ˌɪ.məˈti.ɹi.əl/ (Canada)
- /ˌɪ.məˈtɪ.ɹi.əl/ (General-American)
- /ˌɪ.məˈtɪə.ɹɪ.əl/ (Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
The adjective is derived from Late Middle English immaterial, inmateriall (“incorporeal; spiritual”), from Middle French immateriel (“not material”) (modern French immatériel), and from its etymon Medieval Latin immāteriālis (“not material”), from Latin im- (a variant of in- (prefix meaning ‘not’)) + māteriālis (“made of matter, material”) (from māteria (“matter, substance, material”) (from māter, from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr, + ia) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship)). The English word is analysable as im- + material. The noun is derived from the adjective.
Meanings
-
Having no matter or substance; incorporeal.
Some believe that because ghosts are immaterial, they can pass through walls.
You feel like a disembodied spirit, immaterial; and you seem to be able to touch beauty as though it were a palpable thing; and you feel an intimate communion with the breeze, and with the trees breaking into leaf, and with the iridescence of the river. You feel like God. Can you explain that to me?
1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter XXI, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC, page 118:
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Of the nature of the soul or spirit; spiritual.
[T]here are ſome beings in the vvorld vvhich cannot depend upon matter or motion, i.e. that there are ſome ſpiritual and immaterial ſubstances or Beings […] If there be then ſuch things in the vvorld vvhich matter and motion cannot be the cauſes of, then there are certainly spiritual and immaterial Beings, and that I ſhall make appear both as to the minds of men, and to ſome extraordinary effects vvhich are produced in the vvorld.
1662, Edward Stillingfleet, “Of the Being of God”, in Origines Sacræ, or A Rational Account of the Grounds of Christian Faith, […], London: […] R[obert] W[hite] for Henry Mortlock […], →OCLC, book III, page 411:
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(figuratively) Of no importance; inconsequential, insignificant, unimportant.
He has also been good enough to recommend to me many tradesmen who are ready to supply these articles in any quantities; each of whom has been here already a dozen times, cap in hand, and vowing that it is quite immaterial when I pay—which is very kind of them; […]
1859–1861, [Thomas Hughes], chapter 1, in Tom Brown at Oxford: […], part 1st, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, published 1861, →OCLC, page 11:
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(figuratively, rare) Having or seeming to have very little substance; insubstantial, slight.
No, vvhy art thou then exaſperate, thou idle, / immaterial ſkeine of ſleiue ſilke; thou greene ſacenet flap for a ſore eye, thou toſſell of a prodigalls purſe— […]
c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Famous Historie of Troylus and Cresseid. […] (First Quarto), London: […] G[eorge] Eld for R[ichard] Bonian and H[enry] Walley, […], published 1609, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], signature K, recto:Mr. Woodhouse considered eight persons at dinner together as the utmost that his nerves could bear—and here was a ninth— […] She [Emma] comforted her father better than she could comfort herself, by representing that though he certainly would make them nine, yet he always said so little, that the increase of noise would be very immaterial.
1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter XVI, in Emma: […], volume II, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC, pages 303–304:
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(figuratively) Especially of evidence; chiefly followed by to: not associated in any way that is important or useful to the context being discussed; irrelevant.
Objection, your Honour! The defendant’s criminal record is immaterial to this case.
He was perpetually at her side, trying, apparently, to preserve the thread of a disconnected talk, the fate of which was, to judge by her face, profoundly immaterial to the young lady.
1875 January–December, Henry James, Jr., “Christina”, in Roderick Hudson, Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, late Ticknor & Fields, and Fields, Osgood, & Co., published 1876, →OCLC, page 178:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most immaterial | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more immaterial | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |
Antonyms
tangible · physical · consequential · extraordinary · pertinent · paramount · allied · necessary · relative · real · hylic · actual · salient · choical · central · critical · key · apposite · vital · essential · germane · high on the totem pole · affiliated · associated · corporeal · noticeable · relevant · heavy · hylical · tangible · significant · epochful · noted · fatefraught · weighty · important · innegligible · material · valuable · fatesome · big · relevant · material · unignorable · pivotal · material · crucial · remarkable · substantive · outstanding · comparative · historic · life-or-death · fateful · observable · corporeal · related · pertinent · concrete · meaningful · connected · bodily · meaty
Deriveds
immaterialism · immateriality · immaterialized · immaterialness · immaterialist · immaterialize · immaterially
Relateds
materiality · material · unmaterialist · nonmaterialistic · nonmateriality · unmaterialistic · nonmaterial · nonmaterially · matter · nonmaterialism · unmaterialistically · unmaterialized · unmaterial · materially · unmaterialised · nonmaterialist
Synonyms
tenuous · slight · independent · arbitrary · ungermane · unmaterial · miserable · unimportant · nonmaterial · unreal · irrespective · null · diaphanous · unreal · inconsiderable · neither here nor there · self-standing · pissass · wretched · immaterial · foolish · pitiful · silly · meager · futile · contemptible · trifling · inconsequential · indifferent · ticky-tacky · frivolous · base · aery · betwixt and between · mean · gossamer · unrelated · like a fart in a windstorm · petty · worthless · for the birds · piddly · intangible · negligible · incoherent · picayune · nondescript · trivial · ethereal · tin-pot · unconnected · minor · two-bit · diaphanous · piddling · vain · paltry · separate · pointless · immaterial · simple · immaterial · pissant · neither here nor there · aery · unweighty · floccinaucinihilipilificatious · unsubstantial · ethereal · tenuous · unsubstantial · unimportant · airy · flimsy · ignorable · idle · diaphanous · insubstantial · airy · insubstantial · insignificant · picayunish · unallied · piteous · irrelative · nothingburger
Translations (17)
cs nehmotný (having no matter or substance — see also incorporeal) · ca immaterial (having no matter or substance — see also incorporeal) · vo nenstöfik (having no matter or substance — see also incorporeal) · ast inmaterial (having no matter or substance — see also incorporeal) · ru нематериа́льный (having no matter or substance — see also incorporeal) · it immateriale (having no matter or substance — see also incorporeal) · oc immaterial (having no matter or substance — see also incorporeal) · gl inmaterial (having no matter or substance — see also incorporeal) · ro imaterial (having no matter or substance — see also incorporeal) · bg не́материален (having no matter or substance — see also incorporeal) · de immateriell (having no matter or substance — see also incorporeal) · es inmaterial (having no matter or substance — see also incorporeal) · fi aineeton (having no matter or substance — see also incorporeal) · ru бестеле́сный (having no matter or substance — see also incorporeal) · fr immatériel (having no matter or substance — see also incorporeal) · ru невеще́ственный (having no matter or substance — see also incorporeal) · pt imaterial (having no matter or substance — see also incorporeal)