madde

Madde is a Turkish noun meaning matter, substance, or material. It is used across science, law, and everyday language to denote the physical stuff that makes up objects, or to refer to clauses within legal texts. The term is common in Turkish and other Turkic languages, with related forms in everyday and formal usage.

In science, madde denotes anything with mass and occupying space. It includes elements, compounds, and mixtures, and it can exist in states such as solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. Physical properties describe madde’s characteristics such as density, volume, and phase, while chemical properties relate to reactivity and composition. The study of madde covers topics from atomic structure to material behavior, including pure substances versus mixtures and how substances interact.

In law, madde refers to an article or clause within a legal document. Laws are typically organized by numbered maddeler (articles), and the term helps structure legal provisions. For example, a regulation may begin with “Madde 1,” outlining a fundamental rule, followed by additional maddeler that specify exceptions or procedures.

In philosophy and everyday use, madde is associated with the notion of matter as the substrate of physical phenomena, contrasted with energy, form, or mind in various traditions. In Turkish usage, madde also appears in commerce and policy discussions to describe material contents or tangible aspects of a product, a situation, or a regulation.

Related forms include maddeler (plural), maddi (adjective meaning material or tangible), and maddiyat (materiality). The term appears broadly in dictionaries, educational materials, and legal texts.