Mat"ter (?), n. [OE. matere, F.
matière, fr. L. materia; perh. akin to L.
mater mother. Cf. Mother, Madeira,
Material.] 1. That of which anything is
composed; constituent substance; material; the material or
substantial part of anything; the constituent elements of conception;
that into which a notion may be analyzed; the essence; the pith; the
embodiment.
He is the matter of virtue.
B.
Jonson.
2. That of which the sensible universe and
all existent bodies are composed; anything which has extension,
occupies space, or is perceptible by the senses; body;
substance.
&fist; Matter is usually divided by philosophical writers
into three kinds or classes: solid, liquid, and
aëriform. Solid substances are those whose parts
firmly cohere and resist impression, as wood or stone. Liquids
have free motion among their parts, and easily yield to impression,
as water and wine. Aëriform substances are elastic
fluids, called vapors and gases, as air and oxygen
gas.
3. That with regard to, or about which,
anything takes place or is done; the thing aimed at, treated of, or
treated; subject of action, discussion, consideration, feeling,
complaint, legal action, or the like; theme. "If the
matter should be tried by duel." Bacon.
Son of God, Savior of men ! Thy name
Shall be the copious matter of my song.
Milton.
Every great matter they shall bring unto thee,
but every small matter they shall judge.
Ex.
xviii. 22.
4. That which one has to treat, or with which
one has to do; concern; affair; business.
To help the matter, the alchemists call in many
vanities out of astrology.
Bacon.
Some young female seems to have carried matters
so far, that she is ripe for asking advice.
Spectator.
5. Affair worthy of account; thing of
consequence; importance; significance; moment; -- chiefly in the
phrases what matter ? no matter, and the
like.
A prophet some, and some a poet, cry;
No matter which, so neither of them lie.
Dryden.
6. Inducing cause or occasion, especially of
anything disagreeable or distressing; difficulty; trouble.
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.
Milton.
7. Amount; quantity; portion; space; -- often
indefinite.
Away he goes, . . . a matter of seven
miles.
L' Estrange.
I have thoughts to tarry a small
matter.
Congreve.
No small matter of British forces were
commanded over sea the year before.
Milton.
8. Substance excreted from living animal
bodies; that which is thrown out or discharged in a tumor, boil, or
abscess; pus; purulent substance.
9. (Metaph.) That which is permanent,
or is supposed to be given, and in or upon which changes are effected
by psychological or physical processes and relations; -- opposed to
form. Mansel.
10. (Print.) Written manuscript, or
anything to be set in type; copy; also, type set up and ready to be
used, or which has been used, in printing.
Dead matter (Print.), type which has
been used, or which is not to be used, in printing, and is ready for
distribution. -- Live matter (Print.),
type set up, but not yet printed from. -- Matter in
bar, Matter of fact. See under
Bar, and Fact. -- Matter of
record, anything recorded. -- Upon the
matter, or Upon the whole matter,
considering the whole; taking all things into view.
Waller, with Sir William Balfour, exceeded in horse,
but were, upon the whole matter, equal in foot.
Clarendon.
Mat"ter (?), v. i. [imp. & p.
p. Mattered (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Mattering.] 1. To be of importance; to
import; to signify.
It matters not how they were
called.
Locke.
2. To form pus or matter, as an abscess; to
maturate. [R.] "Each slight sore mattereth." Sir P.
Sidney.
Mat"ter, v. t. To regard as
important; to take account of; to care for. [Obs.]
He did not matter cold nor hunger.
H. Brooke.
