Yes Materia was in Final Fantasy VII but it was in the latin language before that.

Materia is Latin for "material", so i don't see what the problem is referring it by its correct meaning. Materia can also be used to describe matter in both its physical and chemical form, SE is just naming it how they see it.

Plus people whine all day about not enough FF trade marks and here people are whining about having a Fianl Fantasy trade mark. People saying Materia was only in FF 7 not only are wrong on that level, but also Materia is nothing more then the trade mark crystal that is in every Final Fantasy just in a different form.