substance

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsʌbstəns/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English substaunce, borrowed from Old French substance,^[2][3][4] from Latin substantia (“being, essence, material”), from substans, the present participle of substāre (“to stand firm, be under”),^[2][3][5] from sub- (“under”) and stāre (“to stand”).^[2][3] Latin substantia translates Greek οὐσία (ousía, “being, essence”).^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Essential nature, especially the divine essence shared by the persons of the Trinity: before 1300 in the OED and Barnhart, about 1300 in Etymonline.^[7][2][3]

Semantic evolution

In philosophy, that which exists by itself, or which underlies phenomena, is from the mid-14th century.^[3][7] Any kind of physical matter is from the mid-14th century,^[3][5] and a particular kind of matter from before 1393, in Gower.^[2] Wealth or possessions, as in a man of substance, is first found in Cursor Mundi (before 1325).^[2][3] The content of a speech or book is from the late 14th century, and its meaning as distinct from its style by 1780.^[3] A drug, especially an illegal one, is a substance, as in substance abuse.^[8][9] In Warwickshire and Gloucestershire dialect a substance was a tumour.^[10]

Timeline

• before 1300 – essential nature.^[7][2]
• before 1325 – wealth.^[2]
• mid-14th century – matter; in philosophy.^[3]
• before 1393 – a particular kind of matter.^[2]
• 1780 – meaning as opposed to style.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A particular kind of matter with uniform properties: a toxic substance.
2. The real physical matter of which something consists.
3. The essential meaning or most important part of something; the gist.
4. Importance, solidity or reality: rumours without substance.
5. A drug, especially an illegal one.
6. (formal) Wealth: a woman of substance.

Word family

• substanceless
• ground substance
• queen substance

Related words

• subsist
• substantial
• substantive
• substantiate
• stand
• stance

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)