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substance - 9 dictionary results

sub⋅stance

  [suhb-stuhns]
Use substance in a Sentence
–noun
1. that of which a thing consists; physical matter or material: form and substance.
2. a species of matter of definite chemical composition: a chalky substance.
3. controlled substance.
4. the subject matter of thought, discourse, study, etc.
5. the actual matter of a thing, as opposed to the appearance or shadow; reality.
6. substantial or solid character or quality: claims lacking in substance.
7. consistency; body: soup without much substance.
8. the meaning or gist, as of speech or writing.
9. something that has separate or independent existence.
10. Philosophy.
a. something that exists by itself and in which accidents or attributes inhere; that which receives modifications and is not itself a mode; something that is causally active; something that is more than an event.
b. the essential part of a thing; essence.
c. a thing considered as a continuing whole.
11. possessions, means, or wealth: to squander one's substance.
12. Linguistics. the articulatory or acoustic reality or the perceptual manifestation of a word or other construction (distinguished from form ).
13. a standard of weights for paper.
—Idiom
14. in substance,
a. concerning the essentials; substantially.
b. actually; really: That is in substance how it appeared to me.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME < L substantia substance, essence (lit., that which stands under, i.e., underlies), equiv. to sub- sub- + -stant- (s. of stāns, prp. of stāre to stand ) + -ia -ia (see -ance )

Related forms:
sub⋅stance⋅less, adjective

Synonyms:
1. See matter. 4. theme, subject. 4, 5, 8. essence. 8. significance, import, pith.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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sub·stance   (sŭb'stəns)   
n.  
    1. That which has mass and occupies space; matter.
    2. A material of a particular kind or constitution.
    3. Essential nature; essence.
    4. Gist; heart.
    1. Essential nature; essence.
    2. Gist; heart.
  3. That which is solid and practical in character, quality, or importance: a plan without substance.
  4. Density; body: Air has little substance.
  5. Material possessions; goods; wealth: a person of substance.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin substantia, from substāns, substant-, present participle of substāre, to be present : sub-, sub- + stāre, to stand; see stā- in Indo-European roots.]
Synonyms: These nouns denote the essential import or significance of something spoken or written: the substance of his complaint; the burden of the President's speech; the core of an article; the gist of her argument; the pith of an essay; the purport of a document.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Substance

Sub"stance\, n. [F., fr. L. substantia, fr. substare to be under or present, to stand firm; sub under + stare to stand. See Stand.]

1. That which underlies all outward manifestations; substratum; the permanent subject or cause of phenomena, whether material or spiritual; that in which properties inhere; that which is real, in distinction from that which is apparent; the abiding part of any existence, in distinction from any accident; that which constitutes anything what it is; real or existing essence.

These cooks, how they stamp, and strain, and grind, And turn substance into accident! --Chaucer.

Heroic virtue did his actions guide, And he the substance, not the appearance, chose. --Dryden.

2. The most important element in any existence; the characteristic and essential components of anything; the main part; essential import; purport.

This edition is the same in substance with the Latin. --Bp. Burnet.

It is insolent in words, in manner; but in substance it is not only insulting, but alarming. --Burke.

3. Body; matter; material of which a thing is made; hence, substantiality; solidity; firmness; as, the substance of which a garment is made; some textile fabrics have little substance.

4. Material possessions; estate; property; resources.

And there wasted his substance with riotous living. --Luke xv. 13.

Thy substance, valued at the highest rate, Can not amount unto a hundred marks. --Shak.

We are destroying many thousand lives, and exhausting our substance, but not for our own interest. --Swift.

5. (Theol.) Same as Hypostasis, 2.

Substance

Sub"stance\, v. t. To furnish or endow with substance; to supply property to; to make rich. [Obs.]
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : substance
Spanish: sustancia,
German: die Substanz,
Japanese: 材料
More Translations »

substance 
c.1300, "essential nature," from O.Fr. substance (12c.), from L. substantia "being, essence, material," from substans, prp. of substare "stand firm, be under or present," from sub "up to, under" + stare "to stand," from PIE base *sta- "to stand" (see stet). A loan-translation of Gk. hypostasis. Sense of "the matter of a study, discourse, etc." first recorded 1390. Meaning "any kind of corporeal matter" also is first attested 1390.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: sub·stance
Function: noun
1 : SUBSTANTIVE LAW substance and not process> —compare PROCEDURE
2 : something (as language) essential esp. to establishing a valid right, claim, or charge substance>
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Main Entry: sub·stance
Pronunciation: 's&b-st&n(t)s
Function: noun
1 : physical material from which something is made or which hasdiscrete existence substance of nerve tissue>
2 : matter of particular or definite chemical constitution
3 : something (as drugs or alcoholicbeverages) deemed harmful and usually subject to legal restriction substance> substance problem>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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substance sub·stance (sŭb'stəns)
n.

  1. That which has mass and occupies space; matter.
  2. A material of a particular kind or constitution.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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substance

see in substance; sum and substance.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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