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.

Staple vs Material - What's the difference?

staple | material |

As nouns the difference between staple and material

is that staple is a town containing merchants who have exclusive right, under royal authority, to purchase or produce certain goods for export; also, the body of such merchants seen as a group or staple can be a wire fastener used to secure stacks of paper by penetrating all the sheets and curling around while material is material (matter which may be shaped or manipulated).

As a verb staple

is to sort according to its staple or staple can be to secure with a staple.

As an adjective staple

is relating to, or being market of staple for, commodities.

staple

English

Etymology 1

(The Staple) From (etyl) estaple, (etyl) . Compare staff.

Noun

(en noun)
  • A town containing merchants who have exclusive right, under royal authority, to purchase or produce certain goods for export; also, the body of such merchants seen as a group.
  • * Arbuthnot
  • The customs of Alexandria were very great, it having been the staple of the Indian trade.
  • * Sir Walter Scott
  • For the increase of trade and the encouragement of the worthy burgesses of Woodstock, her majesty was minded to erect the town into a staple for wool.
  • * 2011 , Thomas Penn, Winter King , Penguin 2012, p. 73:
  • Calais was one of the ‘principal treasures’ of the crown, of both strategic and economic importance. It was home to the staple , the crown-controlled marketplace for England's lucrative textile trade, whose substantial customs and tax revenues flooded into Henry's coffers.
  • (by extension) Place of supply; source.
  • * Macaulay
  • Whitehall naturally became the chief staple of news. Whenever there was a rumour that any thing important had happened or was about to happen, people hastened thither to obtain intelligence from the fountain head.
  • The principal commodity produced in a town or region.
  • * Trench
  • We should now say, Cotton is the great staple , that is, the established merchandize, of Manchester.
  • * 1929 , , , Chapter VIII, Section ii:
  • The pastoral industry, which had weathered the severe depression of the early forties by recourse to boiling down the sheep for their tallow, and was now firmly re-established as the staple industry of the colony, was threatened once more with eclipse.
  • A basic or essential supply.
  • Rice is a staple in the diet of many cultures.
  • A recurring topic or character.
  • * 2010 , The Economist , Jul-Aug 2010, p. 27:
  • In most countries, rubbish makes headlines only when it is not collected, and stinking sacks lie heaped on the streets. In Britain bins are a front-page staple .
  • Short fiber, as of cotton, sheep’s wool, or the like, which can be spun into yarn or thread.
  • Tow is flax with short staple .
  • Unmanufactured material; raw material.
  • Verb

    (stapl)
  • To sort according to its staple.
  • to staple cotton

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Relating to, or being market of staple for, commodities.
  • a staple town
  • Established in commerce; occupying the markets; settled.
  • a staple trade
    (Dryden)
  • Fit to be sold; marketable.
  • (Swift)
  • Regularly produced or manufactured in large quantities; belonging to wholesale traffic; principal; chief.
  • * Hallam
  • wool, the great staple commodity of England

    Etymology 2

    Probably from (etyl) , from (etyl).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A wire fastener used to secure stacks of paper by penetrating all the sheets and curling around.
  • A wire fastener used to secure something else by penetrating and curling.
  • Can you believe they use staples to hold cars together these days?
  • A U-shaped metal fastener, used to attach fence wire or other material to posts or structures.
  • The rancher used staples to attach the barbed wire to the fence-posts.
  • One of a set of U-shaped metal rods hammered into a structure, such as a piling or wharf, which serve as a ladder.
  • Fortunately, there were staples in the quay wall, and she was able to climb out of the water.
  • (mining) A shaft, smaller and shorter than the principal one, joining different levels.
  • A small pit.
  • A district granted to an abbey.
  • (Camden)

    Verb

    (stapl)
  • To secure with a staple.
  • Derived terms
    * stapler

    Anagrams

    * ----

    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

    * ----