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Webster 1913 Edition


Materialism

Ma-te′ri-al-ism

,
Noun.
[Cf. F.
matérialisme
.]
1.
The doctrine of materialists; materialistic views and tenets; called also
philosophical materialism
.
The irregular fears of a future state had been supplanted by the
materialism
of Epicurus.
Buckminster.
2.
The tendency to give undue importance to material interests as contrasted with spiritual concerns; devotion to the material nature and its wants.
3.
Material substances in the aggregate; matter.
[R. & Obs.]
A. Chalmers.
2.
One who holds to the existence of matter, as distinguished from the idealist, who denies it.
Berkeley.

Webster 1828 Edition


Materialism

MATE'RIALISM

,
Noun.
The doctrine of materialists; the opinion of those who maintain that the soul of man is not a spiritual substance distinct from matter, but that it is the result or effect or the organization of matter in the body.
The irregular fears of a future state had been supplanted by the materialism of Epicurus.

Definition 2024


materialism

materialism

English

Noun

materialism (countable and uncountable, plural materialisms)

  1. Constant concern over material possessions and wealth; a great or excessive regard for worldly concerns.
    • Buckminster
      The irregular fears of a future state had been supplanted by the materialism of Epicurus.
  2. (philosophy) The philosophical belief that nothing exists beyond what is physical.
  3. (obsolete, rare) Material substances in the aggregate; matter.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of A. Chalmers to this entry?)

Synonyms

  • (philosophy): physicalism
  • (philosophy): philosophical materialism

Antonyms

Derived terms

  • philosophical materialism

Related terms

Translations

See also

External links

  • materialism in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • materialism in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Swedish

Etymology

materiell + -ism

Noun

materialism c

  1. materialism

Declension

Related terms