substance

American  

[suhb-stuhns] / ˈsʌb stəns /

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.

   Synonyms:

   subject , theme

5. the actual matter of a thing, as opposed to the appearance or shadow; reality.

   Synonyms:

   essence

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.

   Synonyms:

   pith , import , significance

9. something that has separate or independent existence.

10. Philosophy.

    1. 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.

    2. the essential part of a thing; essence.

    3. 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 (form ).

13. a standard of weights for paper.

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idioms

1. in substance,

   1. concerning the essentials; substantially.

   2. actually; really.

      That is in substance how it appeared to me.

substance British  

/ ˈsʌbstəns /

noun

1. the tangible matter of which a thing consists

2. a specific type of matter, esp a homogeneous material with a definite composition

3. the essence, meaning, etc, of a written or spoken thought

4. solid or meaningful quality

5. material density

   a vacuum has no substance

6. material possessions or wealth

   a man of substance

7. philosophy

   1. the supposed immaterial substratum that can receive modifications and in which attributes and accidents inhere

   2. a thing considered as a continuing whole that survives the changeability of its properties

8. Christian Science that which is eternal

9. a euphemistic term for any illegal drug

10. with regard to the salient points

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substance More Idioms  

1. see in substance; sum and substance.

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Related Words

See matter.

Other Word Forms

• substanceless adjective

Etymology

Origin of substance

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Latin substantia “substance, essence” (literally, “that which stands under, i.e., underlies”), equivalent to sub- “under, beneath” + -stant- (stem of stāns, present participle of stāre “to stand”) + -ia noun suffix; sub-, stand, -ia; -ance

Example Sentences

Stoppard was determined to restore its fun without diminishing its substance.

From Los Angeles Times

Plays like Arcadia, Jumpers and the work which first made his name, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, were sometimes criticised for lacking emotional depth, for being too much show and too little substance.

From BBC

Nearly a century later, NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope may have captured the first direct evidence of this mysterious substance, offering the possibility of finally "seeing" dark matter.

From Science Daily

The overwhelming majority backed the Nicene Creed, which affirmed the full divinity of Jesus, declaring he is “of one substance” and thus equal to God the Father.

From The Wall Street Journal

Extraction rates, referring to how much of a substance is released when exposed to gastric juice, ranged from 0.11% to 7.33%.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• amount
• effect
• meat
• significance
• strength
• stuff
• subject