Substance

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: sub=stance

CIDE DICTIONARY

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

•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  "These cooks, how they stamp, and strain, and grind,
  And turn substance into accident!"  [1913 Webster]

  "Heroic virtue did his actions guide,
  And he the substance, not the appearance, chose."  [1913 Webster]
•  The most important element in any existence; the characteristic and essential components of anything; the main part; essential import; purport.  [1913 Webster]

  "This edition is the same in substance with the Latin."  [1913 Webster]

  "It is insolent in words, in manner; but in substance it is not only insulting, but alarming."  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]
•  Material possessions; estate; property; resources.  [1913 Webster]

  "And there wasted his substance with riotous living."  [1913 Webster]

  "Thy substance, valued at the highest rate,
  Can not amount unto a hundred marks."  [1913 Webster]

  "We are destroying many thousand lives, and exhausting our substance, but not for our own interest."  [1913 Webster]
•  Same as Hypostasis, 2.  [1913 Webster]

Substance, v. t. 

 To furnish or endow with substance; to supply property to; to make rich.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Substance, n.
1 a the essential material, esp. solid, forming a thing (the substance was transparent). b a particular kind of material having uniform properties (this substance is salt).
2 a reality; solidity (ghosts have no substance). b seriousness or steadiness of character (there is no substance in him).
3 the theme or subject of esp. a work of art, argument, etc. (prefer the substance to the style).
4 the real meaning or essence of a thing.
5 wealth and possessions (a woman of substance).
6 Philos. the essential nature underlying phenomena, which is subject to changes and accidents.

Idiom

in substance generally; apart from details.

Etymology

ME f. OF f. L substantia (as SUB-, stare stand)

THESAURUS

Substance

Swiss bank account, actuality, affective meaning, affluence, air, amount, amplitude, assets, atom, atomic particles, atoms, axiom, balance, bank account, basis, bearing, being, bench mark, best part, better part, body, bottom, bottom dollar, bottomless purse, brute matter, budget, building block, bulging purse, bulk, burden, call, cardinal point, case, cash reserves, cause, center, chapter, checking account, chemical element, chief thing, climax, coloring, command of money, component, composition, concern, concreteness, connotation, consequence, constituent, core, cornerstone, corporeality, corpus, crisis, critical point, crux, denotation, density, distillate, distillation, drift, durability, earth, easy circumstances, effect, element, elementary particle, elementary unit, elixir, embarras de richesses, entity, essence, essential, essential matter, essentiality, exchequer, extension, extent, fabric, finances, fire, firmness, flower, focus, focus of attention, focus of interest, force, fortune, foundation, fund, fundamental, fundamental particle, funds, generality, gist, gold, good reason, grammatical meaning, gravamen, great point, ground, grounds, handsome fortune, head, heading, heart, high income, high point, high tax bracket, hyle, hypostasis, idea, impact, implication, import, important thing, independence, individual, inner essence, intension, issue, kernel, keystone, kitty, landmark, lexical meaning, life savings, literal meaning, living issue, lucre, luxuriousness, magnitude, main body, main point, main thing, major part, majority, mammon, marrow, mass, material, material basis, material point, material resources, material wealth, material world, materiality, materials, materiel, matter, matter in hand, meaning, meaningfulness, means, measure, measurement, meat, medium, milestone, molecule, monad, money, money to burn, moneybags, moneys, most, motif, motive, natural world, nature, nest egg, nub, nubbin, nucleus, numbers, nuts and bolts, object, opulence, opulency, overtone, palpability, pecuniary resources, pelf, pertinence, physical world, pith, pivot, plenum, plurality, pocket, point, point at issue, point in question, ponderability, pool, possessions, postulate, practical consequence, principle, problem, property, prosperity, prosperousness, purport, purse, quantity, quantum, question, quid, quiddity, quintessence, quintessential, range of meaning, raw material, real issue, real meaning, reality, reason, recap, recapitulation, reference, referent, relation, relevance, reserves, resources, resume, riches, richness, right, rubric, run-through, rundown, salient point, sap, savings, savings account, scope, semantic cluster, semantic field, sense, short, significance, signification, significatum, signifie, sine qua non, solidity, soul, soundness, span of meaning, spirit, stability, staple, steadiness, stock, store, stoutness, strength, structural meaning, stuff, sturdiness, subject, subject matter, subject of thought, substances, substantiality, substantialness, substantive point, substratum, sum, sum and substance, sum total, summary, summation, supply, symbolic meaning, tangibility, tangible, tenor, text, the bottom line, the four elements, the nitty-gritty, the point, theme, thrust, topic, totality of associations, toughness, transferred meaning, treasure, turning point, unadorned meaning, undertone, unit of being, unregistered bank account, upper bracket, upshot, value, warrant, water, wealth, wealthiness, wherewithal, whole, worth

ROGET THESAURUS

Substance

Substantiality

N substantiality, hypostasis, person, being, thing, object, article, item, something, a being, an existence, creature, body, substance, flesh and blood, stuff, substratum, matter, corporeity, element, essential nature, groundwork, materiality, substantialness, vital part, world, plenum, substantive, substantial, hypostatic, personal, bodily, tangible, corporeal, substantially, bodily, essentially.

Importance

N importance, consequence, moment, prominence, consideration, mark, materialness, import, significance, concern, emphasis, interest, greatness, superiority, notability, weight, value, usefulness, gravity, seriousness, solemnity, no joke, no laughing matter, pressure, urgency, stress, matter of life and death, memorabilia, notabilia, great doings, red-letter day, great thing, great point, main chance, the be all and the end all, cardinal point, substance, gist, sum and substance, gravamen, head and front, important part, principal part, prominent part, essential part, half the battle, sine qua non, breath of one's nostrils, cream, salt, core, kernel, heart, nucleus, keynote, keystone, corner stone, trump card, salient points, top sawyer, first fiddle, prima donna, chief, triton among the minnows, 'it', important, of importance, momentous, material, to the point, not to be overlooked, not to be despised, not to be sneezed at, egregious, weighty, of note, notable, prominent, salient, signal, memorable, remarkable, unforgettable, worthy of remark, worthy of notice, never to be forgotten, stirring, eventful, grave, serious, earnest, noble, grand, solemn, impressive, commanding, imposing, urgent, pressing, critical, instant, paramount, essential, vital, all-absorbing, radical, cardinal, chief, main, prime, primary, principal, leading, capital, foremost, overruling, of vital importance in the front rank, first-rate, superior, considerable, marked, rare, significant, telling, trenchant, emphatic, pregnant, tanti, materially, in the main, above all, kat' exochin, par excellence, to crown all, to beat all, expende Hannibalem!.

Quantity

N quantity, magnitude, size, amplitude, magnitude, mass, amount, sum, quantum, measure, substance, strength, force, mathematics, mathesis, category, general conception, universal predicament, armful, handful, mouthful, spoonful, capful, stock, batch, lot, dose, yaffle, quantitative, some, any, aught, more or less, a few, to the tune of, all of, a full, the sum of, fully, exactly, precisely.

Wealth

N wealth, riches, fortune, handsome fortune, opulence, affluence, good circumstances, easy circumstances, independence, competence, solvency, provision, livelihood, maintenance, alimony, dowry, means, resources, substance, property, command of money, income, capital, money, round sum, mint of money, mine of wealth, El Dorado, bonanza, Pacatolus, Golconda, Potosi, long purse, full purse, well lined purse, heavy purse, deep pockets, purse of Fortunatus, embarras de richesses, pelf, Mammon, lucre, filthy lucre, loaves and fishes, rich man, moneyed man, warm man, man of substance, capitalist, millionaire, tippybob, Nabob, Croesus, idas, Plutus, Dives, Timon of Athens, Timocracy, Plutocracy, Danae, wealthy, rich, affluent, opulent, moneyed, monied, worth much, well to do, well off, warm, comfortable, well, well provided for, made of money, rich as Croesus, filthy rich, rich as a Jew, rolling in riches, rolling in wealth, flush, flush of cash, flush of money, flush of tin, in funds, in cash, in full feather, solvent, pecunious, out of debt, in the black, all straight, one's ship coming in, amour fait beaucoup mais argent fait tout, love does much but money does everything, aurea rumpunt tecta quietem, magna servitus ist magna fortuna, mammon, the least erected spirit that fell from Heaven, opum furiata cupido, vera prosperita e non aver necessita, wie gewonnen so zerronnen.

Interiority

N interiority, inside, interior, interspace, subsoil, substratum, intrados, contents, substance, pith, marrow, backbone, heart, bosom, breast, abdomen, vitals, viscera, entrails, bowels, belly, intestines, guts, chitterings, womb, lap, penetralia, recesses, innermost recesses, cave, interior, internal, inner, inside, inward, intraregarding, inmost, innermost, deep seated, gut, intestine, intestinal, inland, subcutaneous, abdominal, coeliac, endomorphic, interstitial, inwrought, inclosed, home, domestic, indoor, intramural, vernacular, endemic, internally, inwards, within, in, inly, here in, there in, where in, ab intra, withinside, in doors, within doors, at home, in the bosom of one's family.

Materiality

N materiality, materialness, corporeity, corporality, substantiality, substantialness, flesh and blood, plenum, physical condition, matter, body, substance, brute matter, stuff, element, principle, parenchyma, material, substratum, hyle, corpus, pabulum, frame, object, article, thing, something, still life, stocks and stones, materials, physics, somatology, somatics, natural philosophy, experimental philosophy, physicism, physical science, philosophie positive, materialism, materialist, physicist, somatism, somatist, material, bodily, corporeal, corporal, physical, somatic, somatoscopic, sensible, tangible, ponderable, palpable, substantial, objective, impersonal, nonsubjective, neuter, unspiritual, materialistic.

Texture

N texture, structure (form), organization, anatomy, frame, mold, fabric, construction, framework, carcass, architecture, stratification, cleavage, substance, stuff, compages, parenchyma, constitution, staple, organism, organography, osteology, myology, splanchnology, neurology, angiography, adeology, angiography, adenography, texture, surface texture, intertexture, contexture, tissue, grain, web, surface, warp and woof, warp and weft, tooth, nap, flatness (smoothness), fineness of grain, coarseness of grain, dry goods, silk, satin, muslin, burlap, histology, structural, organic, anatomic, anatomical, textural, textile, fine grained, coarse grained, fine, delicate, subtile, gossamery, filmy, silky, satiny, coarse, homespun, rough, gritty, smooth, smooth as silk, smooth as satin.

Meaning

N meaning, signification, significance, sense, expression, import, purport, force, drift, tenor, spirit, bearing, coloring, scope, substance, gist, essence, marrow, spirit, matter, subject, subject matter, argument, text, sum and substance, general meaning, broad meaning, substantial meaning, colloquial meaning, literal meaning, plain meaning, simple meaning, natural meaning, unstrained meaning, true meaning, honest meaning, &c 543 prima facie meaning, letter of the law, literally, after acceptation, synonym, implication, allusion, suggestion, figure of speech, acceptation, meaning, expressive, suggestive, allusive, significant, significative, significatory, pithy, full of meaning, pregnant with meaning, declaratory, intelligible, literal, synonymous, tantamount, implied, explicit, to that effect, that is to say.