English Explanatory Dictionary

substance

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Physical matter; material.
  2. A form of matter that has constant chemical composition and characteristic properties.
  3. The essential part of anything; the most vital part.
  4. Substantiality; solidity; firmness.
  5. Material possessions; estate; property; resources.
  6. Drugs (illegal narcotics)
  7. Ousia, essence; underlying reality or hypostasis in the philosophical sense.
verb
  1. To give substance to; to make real or substantial.

Pronunciation

/ˈsʌbstəns/ [ˈsʌbstənts] en-us-substance.ogg

Word forms

substance substances substaunce substancing substanced

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English substance, from Old French substance, from Latin substantia (“substance, essence”), from substāns, present active participle of substō (“exist”, literally “stand under”), from sub + stō (“stand”). Displaced native Old English andweorc.

Synonyms

corporeity body mass material matter stuff substance crux gist dope gear

Antonyms

nothing vacuum void energy force heat light power ego dream mind personality phantom shadow soul spirit

Related words

subsist substantial substantive style

Derived words

all style and no substance economic substance exosubstance ground substance innominate substance mucosubstance multisubstance nanosubstance Nissl substance nonsubstance perfluoroalkyl substance polyfluoroalkyl substance polysubstance queen substance substance dependence substancehood substanceless substanceness substance-wise substantification substantify

Translations

Albanian: substancë Albanian: lëndë Arabic: مَادَّة Armenian: նյութ Asturian: sustancia Azerbaijani: maddə Bashkir: матдә Belarusian: рэ́чыва Belarusian: субста́нцыя Bengali: পদার্থ Bulgarian: вещество́ Bulgarian: субста́нция Burmese: ဒြပ် Catalan: substància Chinese Cantonese: 物質 /物质 Chinese: 物質 /物质 Chinese Mandarin: 物質 /物质 Wu Chinese: 物質 /物质 Czech: látka Danish: substans Danish: masse Dutch: substantie Esperanto: substanco Estonian: aine Finnish: aine Finnish: materia French: substance Galician: substancia Georgian: ნივთიერება German: Substanz German: Stoff Greek: ουσία Ancient Greek: οὐσία Ancient Greek: ὕλη Ancient Greek: ὑπόστασις Hebrew: חומר \ חֹמֶר Hindi: पदार्थ Hindi: वस्तु Hungarian: anyag Hungarian: tartalom Icelandic: efni Indonesian: zat Irish: mianach Irish: damhna Italian: sostanza Japanese: 物質 Kazakh: зат Khmer: វត្ថុ Korean: 물질 Northern Kurdish: made Kyrgyz: зат
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