māteria
Traditionally derived from māter (“mother, at least in the sense of 'source'”) + -ia, in which case cognate with Old Armenian մայր (mayr, “cedar”) and մայրի (mayri, “forest”).[1] More recently, referred to Proto-Indo-European *dem-(“build”). Sense 1 is a semantic loan from Ancient Greek ὕλη (húlē, “wood, matter”), introduced by Cicero.[2]
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /maːˈte.ri.a/, [mäːˈt̪ɛriä]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /maˈte.ri.a/, [mäˈt̪ɛːriä]
Noun
māteria f (genitive māteriae); first declension
- matter; material; component stuff; substance [ quotations ▼]
- timber [ synonym ▲]
- Synonym: lignum
- (figurative) source, origin
Declension
First-declension noun.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | māteria | māteriae |
| Genitive | māteriae | māteriārum |
| Dative | māteriae | māteriīs |
| Accusative | māteriam | māteriās |
| Ablative | māteriā | māteriīs |
| Vocative | māteria | māteriae |