Meaning & use
materiality
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Meanings
noununcountableformallegalbusiness
The quality of being important enough to influence a decision or judgment.
Grammar: Uncountable; used in phrases like 'the materiality of something' or 'materiality threshold'.
Patterns
- the materiality of something
- materiality threshold
- assess materiality
The court considered the materiality of the omitted fact before ruling.
Auditors assess materiality when planning the scope of an audit.
The materiality of the error meant the financial statements had to be corrected.
noununcountableformal
The state of being physical or tangible rather than spiritual or abstract.
Grammar: Uncountable; often used in philosophical or religious contexts.
Patterns
- the materiality of the world
- deny the materiality of something
Some philosophers question the materiality of consciousness.
The debate centered on the materiality of the soul versus its spiritual nature.
Common combinations
- materiality threshold
- The company set a materiality threshold of $10,000 for reporting errors.
- assess materiality
- Lawyers must assess materiality before deciding whether to disclose the information.
- the materiality of a fact
- The judge emphasized the materiality of the fact to the case.
- materiality principle
- The materiality principle guides accountants in deciding what to include.
Synonyms and how they differ
- significance
- Broader and more general; materiality is specifically about importance in a decision or legal context.
- importance
- Everyday word; materiality is formal and often technical.
- relevance
- Focuses on connection to the matter; materiality focuses on influence on the outcome.
Opposites
Word family
- material adjective
- Important or relevant; also physical.
- materially adverb
- In a significant way; often in legal phrases like 'materially affected'.
- immaterial adjective
- Not important or relevant.
Commonly confused: materiality or material? materiality or maternity?
materiality vs material
As a noun, 'material' means substance or fabric; as an adjective, it means important or physical. 'Materiality' is the noun for the quality of being important.
materiality vs maternity
Sounds somewhat similar but means motherhood or pregnancy; not related.
Practice
The auditor evaluated the ___ of the misstatement before deciding whether it needed to be reported.
Choose one answer.
'Materiality' is the noun that fits after 'the' and before 'of'. 'Material' is an adjective or a different noun, 'maternity' is unrelated, and 'materially' is an adverb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “materiality”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.