A material is a physical substance or mixture of substances that things are made from or composed of. It can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter, and includes solids, liquids, and gases. Materials have mass and take up space, and they possess different properties such as color, texture, weight, and thermal conductivity

. Materials are used as the basic building blocks to create objects and products. For example, wood can be used to make furniture, metal for tools, and plastic for toys. They can be natural or synthetic and are classified based on their physical and chemical properties, geological origin, or biological function

. In everyday language, "material" can also refer to cloth or fabric used for making clothes, curtains, etc. Beyond physical substances, the term can extend metaphorically to mean information or content used in writing or other intellectual work

. In summary, a material is any substance from which something else is made, encompassing everything from natural elements like stone and wood to manufactured fabrics and plastics, as well as any physical matter that constitutes objects in the world