What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Material vs Direct - What's the difference?

material | direct | Synonyms |

As adjectives the difference between material and direct

is that material is having to do with matter; consisting of matter while direct is straight, constant, without interruption.

As verbs the difference between material and direct

is that material is to form from matter; to materialize while direct is to manage, control, steer.

As a noun material

is (matter)Matter which may be shaped or manipulated, particularly in making something.

As an adverb direct is

directly.

material

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Having to do with matter; consisting of matter.
  • This compound has a number of interesting material properties.
  • * Whewell
  • the material elements of the universe
  • Worldly, as opposed to spiritual.
  • Don't let material concerns get in the way of living a happy life.
  • Significant.
  • You've made several material contributions to this project.
    This is the most material fact in this lawsuit.
  • * Evelyn
  • discourse, which was always material , never trifling
  • * John Locke
  • I shall, in the account of simple ideas, set down only such as are most material to our present purpose.

    Antonyms

    * (wordly) spiritual * (significant) immaterial

    Derived terms

    * material breach * material cause * material girl * material world

    Noun

    (wikipedia material) (en noun)
  • (senseid)Matter which may be shaped or manipulated, particularly in making something.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2012-03, author=Lee A. Groat, volume=100, issue=2, page=128
  • , magazine=(American Scientist) , title= Gemstones , passage=Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are […] . (Common gem materials not addressed in this article include amber, amethyst, chalcedony, garnet, lazurite, malachite, opals, peridot, rhodonite, spinel, tourmaline, turquoise and zircon.)}}
  • (senseid)Text written for a specific purpose.
  • (senseid)A sample or specimens for study.
  • *
  • With fresh material', taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the '''material''' examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium ' material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get
  • (senseid)Cloth to be made into a garment.
  • *
  • Mind you, clothes were clothes in those days. There was a great deal of them, lavish both in material and in workmanship.
  • (senseid)A person who is qualified for a certain position or activity.
  • (senseid)Related data of various kinds, especially if collected as the basis for a document or book.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-14, author=(Jonathan Freedland)
  • , volume=189, issue=1, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Obama's once hip brand is now tainted , passage=Now we are liberal with our innermost secrets, spraying them into the public ether with a generosity our forebears could not have imagined. Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet.}}
  • The substance that something is made or composed of.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Stephen P. Lownie], [http://www.americanscientist.org/authors/detail/david-m-pelz David M. Pelz
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= Stents to Prevent Stroke , passage=As we age, the major arteries of our bodies frequently become thickened with plaque, a fatty material with an oatmeal-like consistency that builds up along the inner lining of blood vessels.}}

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * materialism * materialist * material culture * material science * materials science * postmaterialism * postmaterialist * raw material

    See also

    * materiel

    Verb

    (materiall)
  • (obsolete) To form from matter; to materialize.
  • * Sir Thomas Browne
  • I believe that the whole frame of a beast doth perish, and is left in the same state after death as before it was materialled unto life.

    Anagrams

    * ----

    direct

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Straight, constant, without interruption.
  • Straight; not crooked, oblique, or circuitous; leading by the short or shortest way to a point or end.
  • the most direct route between two buildings
  • Straightforward; sincere.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Be even and direct with me.
  • Immediate; express; plain; unambiguous.
  • * John Locke
  • He nowhere, that I know, says it in direct words.
  • * Hallam
  • a direct and avowed interference with elections
  • In the line of descent; not collateral.
  • a descendant in the direct line
  • (astronomy) In the direction of the general planetary motion, or from west to east; in the order of the signs; not retrograde; said of the motion of a celestial body.
  • Antonyms

    * indirect

    Derived terms

    * direct action * direct current * direct flight * direct initiative * direct object * direct quote

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • Directly.
  • * 2009 , Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall , Fourth Estate 2010, p. 346:
  • Presumably Mary is to carry messages that she, Anne, is too delicate to convey direct .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To manage, control, steer.
  • to direct the affairs of a nation or the movements of an army
  • To aim (something) at (something else).
  • They directed their fire towards the men on the wall.
    He directed his question to the room in general.
  • To point out or show to (somebody) the right course or way; to guide, as by pointing out the way.
  • He directed me to the left-hand road.
  • * Lubbock
  • the next points to which I will direct your attention
  • To point out to with authority; to instruct as a superior; to order.
  • She directed them to leave immediately.
  • * Shakespeare
  • I'll first direct my men what they shall do.
  • (dated) To put a direction or address upon; to mark with the name and residence of the person to whom anything is sent.
  • to direct a letter

    Anagrams

    * * ----