The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Material \Ma*te"ri*al\, n.
   The substance or matter of which anything is made or may be
   made.
   [1913 Webster]

   Raw material, any crude, unfinished, or elementary
      materials that are adapted to use only by processes of
      skilled labor. Cotton, wool, ore, logs, etc., are raw
      material.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Raw \Raw\ (r[add]), a. [Compar. Rawer (r[add]"[~e]r); superl.
   Rawest.] [AS. hre['a]w; akin to D. raauw, LG. rau, G. roh,
   OHG. r[=o], Icel. hr[=a]r, Dan. raa, Sw. r[*a], L. crudus,
   Gr. kre`as flesh, Skr. kravis raw flesh. [root]18. Cf.
   Crude, Cruel.]
   1. Not altered from its natural state; not prepared by the
      action of heat; as, raw sienna; specifically, not cooked;
      not changed by heat to a state suitable for eating; not
      done; as, raw meat.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Hence: Unprepared for use or enjoyment; immature; unripe;
      unseasoned; inexperienced; unpracticed; untried; as, raw
      soldiers; a raw recruit.
      [1913 Webster]

            Approved himself to the raw judgment of the
            multitude.                            --De Quincey.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Not worked in due form; in the natural state; untouched by
      art; unwrought. Specifically:
      (a) Not distilled; as, raw water. [Obs.] --Bacon.
      (b) Not spun or twisted; as, raw silk or cotton.
      (c) Not mixed or diluted; as, raw spirits.
      (d) Not tried; not melted and strained; as, raw tallow.
      (e) Not tanned; as, raw hides.
      (f) Not trimmed, covered, or folded under; as, the raw
          edge of a piece of metal or of cloth.
          [1913 Webster]

   4. Not covered; bare. Specifically:
      (a) Bald. [Obs.] "With skull all raw." --Spenser
      (b) Deprived of skin; galled; as, a raw sore.
      (c) Sore, as if by being galled.
          [1913 Webster]

                And all his sinews waxen weak and raw
                Through long imprisonment.        --Spenser.
          [1913 Webster]

   5. Disagreeably damp or cold; chilly; bleak; as, a raw wind.
      "A raw and gusty day." --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   Raw material, material that has not been subjected to a
      (specified) process of manufacture; as, ore is the raw
      material used in smelting; leather is the raw material of
      the shoe industry.

   Raw pig, cast iron as it comes from the smelting furnace.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

raw material
    n 1: material suitable for manufacture or use or finishing [syn:
         raw material, staple]