From Middle English substance, from Old French substance, from Latin substantia, from substāns, present active participle of substō, from sub + stō.

• (America) IPA: /ˈsʌbstəns/, [ˈsʌbstənts]

substance

1. 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.

   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXX, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC ↗, page 308 ↗:

     His wasted hands were stretched out, and worked with a quick and convulsive motion, as if catching some small substances which kept eluding their grasp;...

   Synonyms: matter, stuff

   1. A form of matter that has constant chemical composition and characteristic properties.

      Coordinate terms: compound, element, mixture, composite

2. The essential part of anything; the most vital part.
   • 1667, John Dryden, Annus Mirabilis: The Year of Wonders, 1666. […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], →OCLC ↗, (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.

   Synonyms: crux, gist

3. Substantiality; solidity; firmness.

   Some textile fabrics have little substance.

4. Material possessions; estate; property; resources.

   a man of substance

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Luke 15:13 ↗:

     And there wasted his substance with riotous living.

   • c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act I, scene i]:

     Thy substance, valued at the highest rate, / Cannot amount unto a hundred marks.

   • 1711 December 8 (Gregorian calendar), [Jonathan Swift], The Conduct of the Allies, and of the Late Ministry, in Beginning and Carrying on the Present War, 4th edition, London: […] John Morphew […], published 1711, →OCLC ↗, page 26 ↗:

     And as we have waſted our Strength and vital Subſtance in this profuſe manner, ſo we have ſhamefully miſapplied it to Ends at leaſt very different from thoſe for which we undertook the War, and often to effect others which after a Peace we may ſeverely repent.

5. Drugs illegal narcotics

   substance abuse

   Synonyms: dope, gear

6. (theology, philosophy) Ousia, essence; underlying reality or hypostasis in the philosophical sense.

• (physical matter) See also Thesaurus:substance
• (essential part of anything) See also Thesaurus:gist
• (drugs) See also Thesaurus:recreational drug

• French: substance
• German: Substanz, Stoff
• Italian: sostanza
• Portuguese: substância
• Russian: вещество́
• Spanish: sustancia

• French: substance, fond
• German: Substanz
• Portuguese: substância
• Russian: су́щность
• Spanish: sustancia

• Spanish: enjundia

• French: biens
• German: Substanz
• Portuguese: riqueza
• Russian: вес
• Spanish: sustancia

• German: Substanz
• Portuguese: substância
• Russian: вещество́

substance (substances, present participle substancing; simple past and past participle substanced)

1. (rare, transitive) To give substance to; to make real or substantial.