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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

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English

matter

/ˈmætə/
Anything with mass and volume.

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    • derived
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    • meaning component
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    Origin

    From Middle English matere, mater, from Anglo-Norman matere, materie, from Old French materie, matiere, from Latin māteria (“wood”), from māter (“mother”), in which case cognate with Old Armenian մայր (mayr, “cedar”) and մայրի (mayri, “forest”). Doublet of Madeira, mata, mater, matrix, and mother.

    Displaced Middle English andweorc, andwork (“material, matter”), from Old English andweorc (“matter, substance, material”), Old English intinga (“matter, affair, business”).

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishmatere
      • borrowedAnglo-Normanmatere
        • derivedLatinmāteria “matter, the material world”
          • partLatinmāter “mother”
            • inheritedProto-Italic*mātēr
              • inheritedProto-Indo-European*méh₂tēr “mother”
          • derivedAncient Greekὕλη “timber, material”
            • derivedProto-Indo-European*swel- “to smolder; burn”
            • derivedLatinastēr “a star”
              • derivedAncient Greekἀστήρ “star”
          • partLatin-ia “abstract noun suffix”
            • derivedLatin-ius
              • derivedOld Latin-ios
            • derivedAncient Greek-ῐᾰ “-y”
              • derivedProto-Indo-European*-ih₂

    Related: English mother (doublet), English matrix (doublet), English mater (doublet), English mata (doublet), English Madeira (doublet), Old Armenian մայր, Old English andweorc, Old English intinga

    Meanings

    noun
    1. Anything with mass and volume.
    2. Matter made up of normal particles, not antiparticles.
    3. A kind of substance.
    4. Printed material, especially in books or magazines.
    5. Aristotelian: undeveloped potentiality subject to change and development; formlessness. Matter receives form, and becomes substance.
    6. An affair, condition, or subject, especially one of concern or (especially when preceded by the) one that is problematic.
    verb
    1. To be important.
    2. To care about, to mind; to find important.
    3. To form pus or matter, as an abscess; to maturate.

    Sources

    • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Wiktionary: matter