Măt'ter1, n.
n. [O. Eng. matere, mattere, O. Fr. matere, matire, matiere, N. Fr. matière, Pr., Sp., Pg., It., & Lat. materia, from Lat. mater, mother.]
Sense 1. That of which any thing is composed; constituent substance; material; hence, material or substantial part of any thing; the constituent elements of a conception; that into which a notion may be analyzed; the essence; the pith; the embodiment.
Before his presence you must fall or fly; He is the matter of virtue, and placed high. B. Jonson.
Sense 2. That of which the sensible universe and all existent bodies are composed; any thing which has extension, occupies space, or is perceptible by the senses; body; substance.
☞ Matter is usually divided by philosophical writers into three kinds or classes: solid, liquid, and aeriform. 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. Aeriform substances are elastic fluids, called vapors and gases, as air and oxygen gas.
Sense 3. That with regard to, or about which, any thing takes place; the thing aimed at, treated of, or treated; subject of action, discussion, consideration, feeling, complaint, and legal action, or the like; theme. “If the matter should be tried by duel between two champions.” Bacon.
Son of God, Savior of men, thy name Shall be the copious matter of my song. Milton.
He grants the deluge to have come so very near the matter, that few escaped. Tillotson.
Every great matter they shall bring to thee, but every small matter they shall judge. Ex. xviii. 22.
Sense 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 from astrology. Bacon.
Some young female seems to have carried matters so far, that she is ripe for asking advice. Spectator.
Sense 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.
Sense 6. Inducing cause or occasion, especially of any thing disagreeable or distressing; difficulty; trouble.
And this is the matter why interpreters in that passage in Hosea will not consent it to be a true story, that the prophet took a harlot to wife. Milton.
Sense 7. Indefinite amount, quantity, or portion.
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 the sea the year before. Milton.
Sense 8. Substance excreted from living animal bodies; that which is thrown out or discharged in a tumor, boil, or abscess; pus; purulent substance.
Sense 9. (Metaph.) That which is permanent, or is supposed to be given, and in or upon which changes are effected by psychological or logical processes and relations; — opposed to form. Mansel.
Sense 10. (Print.) Written manuscript, or any thing to be set in type; copy; also, type set up and ready to be used in printing.
Dead matter (Print.), type which has been used in printing, and is ready for distribution.—Live matter, type set up, but which has not been printed from.—Matter of fact, a real occurrence or existence, as distinguished from any thing fancied or supposed; a verity; a fact.—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.