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Contents
substance definition
Overview
This page has 11 definitions of substance in English, French, and Old French. Substance is a noun and verb. Examples of how to use substance in a sentence are shown. Also define these 13 related words and terms: matter, material, stuff, essential, crux, gist, drug, dope, gear, theology, hypostasis, substantial, and existence.
English substance definition
Alternative forms
- substaunce (archaic)
Etymology
From Old French substance, from Latin substantia (“substance, essence”), from substāns, present active participle of substō (“exist”, literally “stand under”), from sub + stō (“stand”).
Pronunciation
Noun
substance (countable and uncountable, plural substances)
- Physical matter; material.
- 1699, William Temple, Heads designed for an essay on conversations
- Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.
- 2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
- Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.
Matter definition
Substance, material.- The basic structural component of the universe. Matter usually has mass and volume.
- Matter made up of normal particles, not antiparticles. (1 of 11 matter definitions)
Material definition
Having to do with matter; consisting of matter. (1 of 3 material definitions)
Stuff definition
Miscellaneous items or objects; (with possessive) personal effects. (1 of 14 stuff definitions)
- 1699, William Temple, Heads designed for an essay on conversations
- The essential part of anything; the most vital part.
- 1668, John Dryden, Annus Mirabilis: The Year of Wonders, M. DC. LXVI. […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], OCLC 1064438096, (please specify the stanza number):
- Heroic virtue did his actions guide, / And he the substance, not the appearance, chose.
- 1684-1690, Thomas Burnet, Sacred Theory of the Earth
- This edition is the same in substance with the Latin.
- 1796, Edmund Burke, Letters on a Regicide Peace
- It is insolent in words, in manner; but in substance it is not only insulting, but alarming.
Gist definition
The most essential part; the main idea or substance (of a longer or more complicated matter); the crux of a matter; the pith. (1 of 3 gist definitions)
- Substantiality; solidity; firmness.
- Some textile fabrics have little substance.
- Material possessions; estate; property; resources.
- a man of substance
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Luke 15:13:
- And there wasted his substance with riotous living.
- c. 1594, William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene i]:
- Thy substance, valued at the highest rate, / Cannot amount unto a hundred marks.
- 1712, Jonathan Swift, The Conduct of the Allies, and of the late Ministry, in beginning and carrying on the present War
- We are destroying many thousand lives, and exhausting our substance, but not for our own interest.
- A form of matter that has constant chemical composition and characteristic properties.
- Drugs (illegal narcotics)
Gear definition
Equipment or paraphernalia, especially that used for an athletic endeavor. (1 of 10 gear definitions)
- (theology) Hypostasis.
Theology definition
The study of God, a god, or gods; and of the truthfulness of religion in general. (1 of 7 theology definitions)
Synonyms
- (physical matter): See also Thesaurus:substance
- (essential part of anything): See also Thesaurus:gist
- (drugs): See also Thesaurus:recreational drug
Related terms
Translations
physical matter; material — See also translations at matter
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essential part
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substantiality; solidity; firmness
material possessions
a form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties
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drugs
theology: hypostasis — see hypostasis
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Dictionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Verb
substance (third-person singular simple present substances, present participle substancing, simple past and past participle substanced)
- (rare, transitive) To give substance to; to make real or substantial.
- 1873, Adeline Dutton Train Whitney, The Other Girls, page 335:
- If life were nothing but what gets phrased and substanced, the world might as well be rolled up and laid away again in darkness.
- 1982, Dhupaty V. K. Raghavacharyulu, The Song of the Red Rose and Other Poems, page 78:
- The calm ruminating / Reverie, substancing / Intellect into emotion, / Is shelter enough for love / Unhumiliated by faith.
See also
French substance definition
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin substantia (“substance, essence”), from substāns, present active participle of substō (“exist”, literally “stand under”), from sub + stō (“stand”).
Pronunciation
Noun
substance f (plural substances)
Derived terms
Further reading
- “substance” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Anagrams
Old French substance definition
Alternative forms
- sostance, sustance
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin substantia.
Noun
substance f (oblique plural substances, nominative singular substance, nominative plural substances)
- most essential; substantial part
- existence
Existence definition
The state of being, existing, or occurring; beinghood. (1 of 2 existence definitions)