Link Centre Dictionary

immaterial

im·ma·te·rial

UK/ˌɪ.məˈtɪə.ɹɪ.əl/ US/ˌɪ.məˈtɪ.ɹi.əl/ uncommon rare

adjective

1.

of no importance or relevance especially to a law case

  • “an objection that is immaterial after the fact”
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2.

without material form or substance

  • “an incorporeal spirit”
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3.

not consisting of matter

  • “immaterial apparitions”
  • “ghosts and other immaterial entities”
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4.

not pertinent to the matter under consideration

  • “an issue extraneous to the debate”
  • “the price was immaterial”
  • “mentioned several impertinent facts before finally coming to the point”
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5.

relating to a balloon or other aircraft that flies because it weighs less than the air it displaces

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Origin

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.

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See also

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.