MATERIAL

adj. physical, bodily; related to bodily comfort; substantial; tangible; important, essential, relevant; of or pertaining to matter

n. substance, matter, stuff of which something is made; fabric, cloth; equipment and supplies needed for an activity; information gathered for a book or research project

Materials are physical substances used as inputs to production or manufacturing. Materials range from man made synthetics such as many plastics to natural materials such as copper or  wood.Raw materials, materials in their unaltered, natural state, are first extracted or harvested from the earth and divided into a form that can be easily transported and stored. The raw materials are then processed to produce "semi-finished materials". These can be input into a new cycle of production and finishing processes to create "finished materials", ready for distribution and consumption.
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Noun
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"
(synonym) stuff
(hypernym) substance, matter
(hyponym) rind
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"
(hypernym) information, info
(hyponym) rehash
3. things needed for doing or making something; "writing materials"; "useful teaching materials"
(hypernym) equipment
(hyponym) packaging
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"
(synonym) fabric, cloth, textile
(hypernym) artifact, artefact
(hyponym) aba, aba cloth
(substance-meronym) warp
(part-meronym) edging
5. a person judged suitable for admission or employment; "he was university material"; "she was vice-presidential material"
(hypernym) applicant, applier
Adjective
1. concerned with worldly rather than spiritual interests; "material possessions"; "material wealth"; "material comforts"
(similar) worldly
2. derived from or composed of matter; "the material universe"
(antonym) immaterial, nonmaterial
(similar) physical, tangible, touchable
(see-also) substantial, real
(attribute) materiality, physicalness, corporeality
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"
(antonym) immaterial
(similar) crucial, relevant
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
(similar) physical
5. having material or physical form or substance; "that which is created is of necessity corporeal and visible and tangible" - Benjamin Jowett
(synonym) corporeal
(similar) bodily
(see-also) bodied
(attribute) materiality, physicalness, corporeality
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
(synonym) substantial, real
(attribute) substantiality, substantialness

n. material, substance, matter, stuff; equipment and supplies needed for an activity; issue, information gathered for a book or research project; components

adj. material, physical; objective; true

n. material; equipment