What does dematerialise mean?
Dematerialise is a verb meaning to lose physical substance or to pass out of material form. It appears most often in two distinct settings. In literature, science fiction, and discussions of the paranormal, it describes something — a person, object, or spirit — visibly fading from physical existence, often dramatically. In finance, it has a precise technical meaning: converting physical securities such as share certificates into electronic records maintained by a central depository, eliminating the risks of loss, forgery, and damage associated with paper. The word derives from Latin materia, meaning matter or substance, via the prefix de-, indicating reversal or removal. British English spells it dematerialise, while American usage favours dematerialize. Its connotations range from the mysterious and otherworldly to the mundane and administrative, making it a vivid choice when writers want to suggest that something solid has quite literally ceased to be tangible.
To lose physical substance or become immaterial.
"As the experiment reached full power, the test object seemed to dematerialise entirely."
Often used transitively in finance: to dematerialise shares.
(Finance) To convert a physical security or document into electronic form.
"Shareholders must dematerialise their certificates before they can trade online."
The same word that describes ghosts vanishing also describes the fate of your paper share certificates — quietly converted into electronic records.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of dematerialise
Dematerialise is formed from the Latin noun materia, meaning matter or substance, combined with the prefix de- (indicating removal or reversal) and the verb-forming suffix -ise. It emerged in English alongside its opposite, materialise, as scientific and philosophical discourse about the nature of matter expanded in the modern era. Cognates sharing the materia root include material, materialism, and immaterial, all tracing back through Latin and ultimately to related words for timber or building substance.
Related word forms
How dematerialise is actually used
British spelling is 'dematerialise'; American English uses 'dematerialize'. The word carries a slightly technical or literary register — common in science fiction, physics writing, and finance. The financial sense is standard terminology in markets such as India's, where securities are held electronically with a depository rather than as physical certificates.
Easily confused with dematerialise
Materialise means to come into physical existence, while dematerialise means the opposite — to lose physical form or substance.