substantial

Pronunciation

• IPA: /səbˈstæn.ʃəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English substancial, borrowed from Old French substantiel and directly from Latin substantiālis “having substance or reality, material”,^[2][3] in Christian Latin “of the substance or essence”, rendering Greek hypostatikós,^[4][2] from substantia (“being, essence, material”) (see substance).^[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of food, ample or abundant: 1340, in the Ayenbite of Inwyt, in Barnhart and the OED.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

Having real existence, and in philosophy and theology relating to the very nature of a thing, are from the late 14th century,^[2][6] hence central or essential;^[2] the OED has involving an essential part from 1432–50.^[6] Of solid material or workmanship it is from 1390,^[6] and of persons, sturdy or burly, from about 1400, a sense now gone.^[6] Well-to-do, possessing property, came later.^[7][8] The alternative adjective substantious (1610s) did not last.^[2]

Timeline

• 1340 – ample, of food.^[3][6]
• 1387 – having real existence.^[6]
• 1390 – of solid make.^[6]
• c. 1400 – sturdy, of persons.^[6]
• 1610s – substantious, short-lived.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Large in amount, value or importance; considerable: a substantial sum.
2. Solidly built; strong.
3. Of a meal, large and nourishing.
4. Real rather than imaginary; having substance.
5. Wealthy or influential.
6. Concerning the main points; essential: in substantial agreement.

Word family

• substantiality
• substantially
• substantialness
• nonsubstantial
• presubstantial
• substantialism
• supersubstantial
• unsubstantial

Related words

• substance
• substantive
• substantiate
• stand
• state

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins