object-matter
[f. object ppl. a. + matter.]
† 1. (Properly two words: see object ppl. a. 1.) Matter presented to view, or to be employed as an instrument or means to some end. Obs.
| 1652 Gaule Magastrom. 60 The object matter or signall means of divining (by things in heaven, or on earth). |
2. The matter that is the object of some action or study; the matter dealt with or treated. (Usually coincident in sense with the more common subject-matter.)
| 1836–7 Sir W. Hamilton Metaph. (1877) I. iii. 51 The first and second [definitions] define philosophy from its object-matter;—that which it is about. 1860 Mansel Proleg. Log. iii. 93 To think actually we must think about something; this something, the object-matter of thought,..must in the first instance be supplied through..the senses. 1884 tr. Lotze's Logic 28 A synthesis in which the..requirement would be completely satisfied in regard to any given object-matter. |