materiality

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the quality of having physical or material existence

   The debate concerned the materiality or immateriality of the soul.

2. 2
   noun

   importance or relevance sufficient to affect a legal, financial, or practical decision

   The auditor assessed the materiality of the omitted transaction.

Formed from material + -ity, perhaps modeled on Latin materialitas. The legal and accounting sense extends the idea of substance to facts substantial enough to influence a decision.

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