Definition

1. Noun:
   • The quality of not being physical; not consisting of matter: The state or characteristic of lacking physical substance or material form.
   • Complete irrelevance requiring no further consideration: The quality of having no bearing or significance on a matter; being of no importance.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Non-physical quality):
  • The philosopher argued for the immateriality of the soul.
  • Digital data has a certain immateriality, existing as code rather than physical objects.
• Noun (Irrelevance):
  • The court ruled on the immateriality of the defendant's earlier statements to the current case.
  • Given the immateriality of the error, the report was accepted without revision.

Advanced Usage

• Legal Context: In law, an objection based on "immateriality" asserts that a line of questioning or a piece of evidence is not relevant to the issues of the case.
  • The lawyer's objection of "immateriality" was sustained by the judge.
• Philosophical/Spiritual Context: Used to discuss the nature of consciousness, ideas, or spiritual entities as distinct from the physical world.
  • Debates about the immateriality of thought have persisted for centuries.

Variants and Related Words

• Immaterial (adj): 1. Unimportant, irrelevant. 2. Not having physical substance.
  • The details were immaterial to the final outcome.
  • They believed in an immaterial spiritual force.
• Immaterially (adv): In an immaterial way.
  • The two accounts differed immaterially.

Synonyms

• Insignificance: The quality of being unimportant.
• Irrelevance: The quality of being not connected with or relevant to something.
• Incorporeality: The quality of having no physical body or form.
• Intangibility: The quality of being unable to be touched or grasped; not having physical presence.

Antonyms

• Materiality: The quality of being composed of matter; physical substance. Or, the quality of being relevant and significant.
• Physicality: The quality of being physical or tangible.
• Relevance: The quality of being closely connected or appropriate to the matter at hand.
• Importance: The quality of being significant or of great consequence.

Related Phrases

• A matter of immateriality: Used to describe an issue that is considered irrelevant.
  • The typo was a matter of immateriality and did not affect the contract's validity.
• To deem something an immateriality: To judge something as being irrelevant.
  • The committee deemed the historical precedent an immateriality in their modern decision-making process.

Noun

1. the quality of not being physical; not consisting of matter
2. complete irrelevance requiring no further consideration