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单词 substance
释义

substancen.

Brit. /ˈsʌbst(ə)ns/, U.S. /ˈsəbstəns/
Forms: Middle English substaunce (plural), Middle English substawns, Middle English–1500s substans, Middle English–1500s substauns, Middle English–1500s sustaunce, Middle English–1600s substaunce, Middle English– substance, late Middle English sobstans, late Middle English sobstons, late Middle English sopesans (perhaps transmission error), late Middle English supstance (in a late copy), late Middle English supstans; Scottish pre-1700 substans, pre-1700 substaunce, pre-1700 1700s– substance.
Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French substance; Latin substantia.
Etymology: < (i) Anglo-Norman substans, substaunce, sustaunce, sostance, Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French substance, Anglo-Norman and Old French sustance (French substance ) wealth, possessions, living being (all first half of the 12th cent.), physical existence, matter, (in theology) essence (all late 12th cent.), food (first half of the 13th cent. or earlier), subsistence, means of living, being that subsists by itself (all first half of the 13th cent.), one of the qualities of a fluid (mid 13th cent.), tenor, gist (late 13th cent. or earlier), material of which a thing is made (13th cent.), majority, principal part (1394 or earlier), and its etymon (ii) classical Latin substantia quality of being real or having an actual existence, quality of having a corporeal existence, reality of a thing, actual state of affairs, underlying or essential nature, constitution, material of which a thing is made, sum or aggregate (of a person's possessions), possessions, assets, (in a calculation) basic unit of measurement, in post-classical Latin also basis, foundation (Vulgate; late 2nd or early 3rd cent. in Tertullian), thing (late 2nd cent. in Tertullian), firmness (3rd cent.), person of the Trinity (4th cent.), food (4th or 5th cent.), person (5th cent.), matter or tissue composing a bodily organ, consistency of a fluid (13th cent. in a British source), any particular kind of matter with uniform properties (1363 in Chauliac) < substant- , present participial stem of substāre to stand or be under, be present ( < sub- sub- prefix + stāre to stand: see stand v.) + -ia -ia suffix1. Compare Old Occitan sustansa (12th cent., later also substansa, sostancia, etc.), Spanish sustancia (13th cent., also as substancia), Portuguese substância (14th cent., also as sustança), Italian sostanza (early 14th cent. as sustanzia and sustanza); also Middle Dutch, Dutch substantie, Middle Low German substancie, Middle High German substanz (German Substanz).Classical Latin (and post-classical Latin) substantia was adopted as the translation equivalent of ancient Greek οὐσία in its various senses (see ousia n.). It is also sometimes used to translate ancient Greek ὑπόστασις hypostasis n. (compare sense 3) and Hellenistic Greek ὕπαρξις hyparxis n. (compare sense 12b); compare the discussion at subsistence n. Substance is contrasted with expression , form , style , etc., in various senses. With sense 13 compare post-classical Latin supersubstantialis and the discussion at supersubstantial adj. Compare earlier sustenance n. and later subsistence n. With in substance at Phrases 1 compare Anglo-Norman and Middle French French en substance in essence, essentially (1324 or earlier), in summary (1377). With of substance at Phrases 2 compare (in slightly different sense) Anglo-Norman and Middle French, French de substance noble, important (1385, of a person; also de grande substance (1402 of a matter, or earlier)).
I. Senses relating to the nature or essence of something.
1. Theology. The divine essence or nature, esp. as that in which the three persons of the Trinity are united as one.The first occurrence of the word in sense c13501 is in this sense; cf. quot. c1350 at sense 7a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > essence or intrinsic nature > [noun]
pitheOE
i-cundeeOE
roota1325
substancec1330
juicec1380
marrowa1382
formc1385
acta1398
quidditya1398
substantial forma1398
inward1398
savourc1400
inwardc1450
allaya1456
essencya1475
being1521
bottom1531
spirit?1534
summary1548
ecceity1549
core1556
flower1568
formality1570
sum and substance1572
alloy1594
soul1598
inwardness1605
quid1606
fibre1607
selfness1611
whatness1611
essentialityc1616
propera1626
the whole shot1628
substantiala1631
esse1642
entity1643
virtuality1646
ingeny1647
quoddity1647
intimacy1648
ens1649
inbeing1661
essence1667
interiority1701
intrinsic1716
stamen1758
character1761
quidditas1782
hyparxis1792
rasa1800
bone1829
what1861
isness1865
inscape1868
as-suchness1909
Wesen1959
the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > the Trinity > [noun] > substance of
substancec1330
essence1481
ousia1861
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 8918 (MED) He herd angels steuen And seiȝe Fader and Sone and Holi Gost In on substaunce, in on acost.
c1350 Athanasian Creed (BL Add. 17376) in K. D. Bülbring Earliest Compl. Eng. Prose Psalter (1891) 195 He his God, of þe substaunce [L. ex substantia] of þe fader biȝeten to-fore þe worldes; & man, of þe substaunce of þe moder born in þe world.
c1350 Athanasian Creed (BL Add. 17376) in K. D. Bülbring Earliest Compl. Eng. Prose Psalter (1891) 194 Noiþer confoundand persons, ne departand þe substaunce [L. substantiam].
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 9762 (MED) An-fald godd vndelt es he, And a substance wit-in þir thre.
c1443 R. Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun (1927) 77 (MED) Þe being of þe sone is his substaunce and his godhede.
a1530 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfeccyon (1531) iii. f. Clxxxxvii The pure substaunce of god in his owne nature & deite.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. lii. 109 In Christ therefore God and man there is..a two-folde substance, not a two-folde person, because one person extinguisheth an other, whereas one nature cannot in another become extinct.
c1610–15 tr. Gregory of Nazianzus Life St. Nonna in C. Horstmann Lives Women Saints (1886) 173 [Arius] affirming the Sonne of god to be of inferiour substance to his Father.
1678 R. Cudworth True Intellect. Syst. Universe i. iv. 601 That Essence or Substance of the Godhead, which all the Three Persons or Hypostases agree in.
1751 W. Berriman Christian Doctr. & Duties Explained I. v. 94 Nor could we dispute the justice of such exclusion,..if there were no other Persons united with the Father, in the same Substance and Godhead.
1833 J. H. Newman Arians 4th Cent. iv. 308 The Three Persons of the Holy Trinity are said to be three in substance,..one in will.
1860 E. B. Pusey Minor Prophets 12 God giveth us of His Substance, His Nature,..making us partakers of the Divine Nature.
1959 Harvard Theol. Rev. 52 11 The affirmation of the Son's origin from divine substance left no doubt in anyone's mind as to his divinity.
2011 A. E. McGrath Christian Theol. iii. xi. 285/2 The doctrine of the incarnation, especially as developed within the Alexandrian school, affirms the presence of the divine nature or substance within Christ.
2. Philosophy. A being that subsists by itself; a distinct individual entity; (also gen.) a thing, being. Cf. also thinking substance n. at thinking adj. Compounds.See also first substance n. at first adj., adv., and n.2 Compounds 1b(b), primary substance n. at primary adj. and n. Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > [noun] > an individual thing or person
substance1340
individuum?a1425
individa1500
suppositum1593
supposite1612
singular1615
individuality1631
the world > existence and causation > existence > substantiality or concreteness > [noun] > substantiality or subsistence > substance or being
being1340
substance1340
essencea1398
materialitya1529
stuff1587
subject1590
timber1612
primary substance1774
the world > existence and causation > existence > substantiality or concreteness > [noun] > substantiality or subsistence > that which has substantial existence
substance1340
substant1597
substantiality1603
subsistence1605
subsistencya1628
existency1651
subsistent1656
substander1662
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > metaphysics > ontology > [noun] > being or entity > that exists by itself
substance1340
subject1387
ens reale1565
individual1582
suppositum1593
supposite1612
substantiala1631
secondary substance1774
absolute1858
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 112 [Supersubstantial bread] þet is to zigge: þet paseþ and ouergeþ alle substances and alle ssepþes be ver.
a1425 (a1382) Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Corpus Oxf.) (1850) Gen. vii. 4 I shal reyn vpon the erthe..and I shal do awey al substaunce [L. substantiam] the which Y made, fro the ouermost of the erthe.
c1450 (?c1400) tr. Honorius Augustodunensis Elucidarium (1909) 1 (MED) God is a goostly substaunce of..moche fairenes & swetnes.
c1475 Mankind (1969) l. 896 Be ware..Of ȝour synfull delectacion, þat grewyth ȝour gostly substans; ȝour body ys ȝour enmy; let hym not haue hys wyll.
1551 T. Wilson Rule of Reason sig. Hvijv A liuely bodie is a substaunce, Ergo a man is a substaunce.
1599 J. Davies Nosce Teipsum 22 She [sc. the soul] is a substance, and a perfect being.
c1616 R. C. Times' Whistle (1871) i. 130 God is an Essence intellectuall, A perfect Substance incorporeall.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost viii. 109 His Omnipotence, That to corporeal substances could adde Speed almost Spiritual. View more context for this quotation
1707 J. Oldfield Ess. Improvem. Reason ii. iii. 139 Minds, which are indiscerpible, are thinking Substances.
1784 H. Hamilton Attempt to prove Existence & Perfection Supreme Being v. 155 There must be in the universe not only one but many substances that are individuals, or do not consist of parts, for all conscious and thinking substances must be such.
a1831 J. Stoddart Gram. in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) I. 8/1 We refer all our states of being to a substance called self.
1868 A. Bain Mental & Moral Sci. App. 50 Mind being..expressed by the one attribute Thought (construed, however, as Thinking Substance), and..Body..summed up in the one attribute Extension (Extended Substance).
1910 T. Case in Encycl. Brit. II. 510/2 The doctrine that all things are substances which are separate individuals, stated in the Categories, is expanded in the Metaphysics.
1973 H. Skolimowski & A. Quinton tr. K. Ajdukiewicz Probl. & Theories Philos. (1975) viii. 86 Impressions are not substances which can exist self-subsistingly.
2010 P. Loptson Reality (rev. ed.) iii. 46 Persons or thinking substances are, in the Cartesian system, free, capable of free actions and choices.
3. gen. Something that underlies or provides support; a basis, foundation; a ground, cause. Obsolete.The word is still used in Hebrews 11:1 (cf. quot. c1384) in some 20th cent. translations of the Bible, such as the New King James Version (1982).
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > basis or foundation > [noun]
ground1340
root1340
substancec1384
fundament1395
foundationc1400
groundment?a1412
footing1440
anvila1450
bottom ground1557
groundwork1557
foot1559
platform1568
subsistence1586
subject matter1600
ground-colour1614
basisa1616
substratum1631
basement1637
bottoma1639
fonda1650
fibre1656
fund1671
fundamen1677
substruction1765
starting ground1802
fundus1839
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Heb. xi. 1 Feith is the substaunce [L. substantia; Gk. ὑπόστασις] of thingis to be hopid.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. l. 3889 Ther is nothing Which mai be betre aboute a king, Than conseil, which is the substance Of all a kinges governance.
?c1450 (a1388) tr. Richard of Wallingford Exafrenon (Digby) in J. D. North Wks. Richard of Wallingford (1976) I. 183 Thai ar callid 5 dignytes..And this the substance of domes, for upon the dignytes hanghtes moste fors and strenghtes of them abowte the which philosofris travelis besily.
a1500 tr. A. Chartier Traité de l'Esperance (Rawl.) (1974) 67 Þerfor feythe is callid substaunce, that is, the foundement of thinges esperable.
1577 H. I. tr. H. Bullinger 50 Godlie Serm. I. i. iv. sig. B.viiv/2 The substance or hypostasis is the foundation, or the vnmoueable proppe, which vpholdeth vs.
1595 W. S. Lamentable Trag. Locrine i. i. 70 A greater care torments my verie bones, And makes me tremble at the thought of it, And in you, Lordings, doth the substance lie.
1659 S. Clarke Medulla Theologiæ xvii. 172 The Covenant is the foundation or substance of Baptisme.
4.
a. Philosophy. The essential element underlying phenomena, which is subject to modifications; the permanent substratum of things; that in which properties or attributes inhere. Also: logical subject (see quot. 1872). Frequently contrasted with accident.See also general substance n. at general adj. and n. Compounds 2, second substance n. at second adj. and n.2 Compounds 1, secondary substance at secondary adj. 3f.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > metaphysics > [noun] > matter or substance
substancea1398
first substance1551
subject1590
hypostasis1605
byss1649
body1651
substratum1651
support1660
general substance1697
supporter1697
substrate1730
object-subject1867
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xix. cxvi. 1355 Whanne tweyne accidentis beþ in oon substaunce and subiecte [L. in uno subiecto], as colour and savour.
1551 T. Wilson Rule of Reason sig. Cij The feare of God is an Accident, the soule is a Substaunce.
1606 L. Bryskett Disc. Ciuill Life 116 The substance of euery thing is so called, by reason that it is subiect vnto accidents; neither can there be any accident (to which it is proper to be in some subiect) but it must fall into some substance.
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. xxiii. 136 The Idea..to which we give the general name Substance, being nothing, but the supposed..support of those Qualities..which we imagine cannot subsist, sine re substante, without something to support them.
1762 Ld. Kames Elements Crit. III. App. 376 A thing with respect to its qualities is termed a subject, or substratum... The..substratum of visible qualities, is termed substance.
1781 W. Cowper Anti-Thelypthora 42 Substances and modes of ev'ry kind.
1838 F. Haywood tr. I. Kant Critick Pure Reason i. 174 The determinations of a substance, which are nothing else but its particular modes of existing, are termed accidents.
1872 J. P. Mahaffy Kant's Crit. Philos. I. 268 Thus the pure Category of substance is that which can only be subject—and not predicate.
1902 Philos. Rev. 11 18 I may say states of consciousness cannot be conceived without an ego that has them. Then that ego is their substance.
1963 D. M. Matheson tr. F. Schuon Understanding Islam iv. 107 They take accidents for reality and deny Substance by describing it as unreal or abstract.
2000 A. Hastings in A. Hastings et al. Oxf. Compan. Christian Thought 714/2 Everything apparent to the sense is an ‘accident’ but beneath accidents lies the substance of a thing, that which it ‘really is’.
b. In extended and allusive uses. Now rare.
ΚΠ
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Pardoner's Tale (Ellesmere) (1872) C. §4. l. 539 Thise Cookes, how they stampe, and streyne and grynde And turnen substaunce in-to Accident.
a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iv. l. 1505 Þenk þat folye is whan man may chese For accident is [= his] substaunce ay to lese.
1493 Chastysing Goddes Chyldern (de Worde) xxv. sig. Fv/2 It is not good to destreye the more for the lesse, ne the substaunce for the accydent.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 570 The Capteynes there, myndyng not to lease the more for the lesse, nor the substance for the accident.
1598 R. Barckley Disc. Felicitie of Man vi. 568 Euill is no substance nor nature, but an accident that commeth to the substance.
1654 Z. Coke Art of Logick 189 The causes are found out and put in substances, in respect of the Essence, Matter, and Form.
1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 28 Not changing the substance, but regulating the mode. View more context for this quotation
1983 W. Weaver tr. U. Eco Name of Rose (1984) 254 You will see that the picture of our stranger is drawn very clearly and that all these properties, or accidents, are suited to a substance that I would have no fear in denning as our cellarer, Remigio of Varagine.
c. Theology. With reference to the doctrine of the Real Presence in the Eucharist. Cf. presence n. 1c, transubstantiation n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > sacrament > communion > eucharistic doctrines > presence of Christ in communion > [noun] > actual
substancec1430
real presence1542
c1430 N. Love Mirror Blessed Life (Brasenose e.9) (1908) 321 The doctryne of holy chirche is that in this blessid sacrament..the..accidentes of breed and wyn been there..with oute the substaunce of breed and wyne.
1546 S. Gardiner Detection Deuils Sophistrie 14 b The substaunce of bred, beyng conuerted into the naturall bodely substaunce of our sauioure [printed souioure] Christe.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. lxvii. 178 How the wordes of Christ commaunding vs to eate must needes importe that as hee hath coupled the substance of his fleshe and the substance of bread together, so we together should receiue both.
1651 C. Cartwright Certamen Religiosum i. 131 It doth argue an extraordinary power in Christ to give his Flesh to eat, though there be no turning of the substance of the Bread in the Sacrament into the substance of his Flesh.
1701 T. Bennet Confut. Popery ii. vii. 134 The Doctrine of Transubstantiation supposes, that the whole substance of the Bread is turn'd into the Body.
1748 G. Smith Britons & Saxons not converted to Popery 321 He [sc. St Gregory] was so far from teaching a Change of Substance in the Holy Eucharist, that he plainly asserts the contrary.
1854 H. H. Milman Hist. Lat. Christianity III. vi. ii. 21 The substance of the bread and wine was actually annihilated—nothing existed but the body and blood of the Redeemer.
1920 P. Smith Age of Reformation ii. 108 The substance of the bread turned into the substance of the body.
2010 G. R. Allison in T. R. Schreiner & M. R. Crawford Lord's Supper vi. 169 Aquinas..explained how conversion of one substance into another..can take place by divine power with the Eucharist. Though the substance changes, the accidents of the bread and wine remain.
5. Substantial existence; substantiality, being. Occasionally as a count noun. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > substantiality or concreteness > [noun] > substantiality or subsistence
substancec1430
subsistence?a1475
substantialityc1480
subsisting1578
body1647
substantivity1851
c1430 (c1370) G. Chaucer A.B.C. (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1878) l. 87 As I seyde erst þou ground of substaunce Contynewe on vs þyme petous eyne clere.
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde ii. x. f. 87 To gyue substance to priuation, (that is) beinge to noo beinge.
1628 T. Spencer Art of Logick 17 A first, or individuall substance, may be taken two wayes: one way, for every thing that hath a substance; another way, for a compleat subsistency, in the nature of any species.
6.
a. Esp. in legal use: that which constitutes the essential part or aspect of something. Cf. substantial adj. 9b.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > jurisprudence > [noun] > the essential merits of a matter
substance?a1450
the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > essence or intrinsic nature > [noun] > an essential quality or principle
substance?a1450
essentiality1649
principle1662
hypostasis1678
internal1697
?a1450 in C. von Nolcken Middle Eng. Transl. Rosarium Theol. (1979) 71 Off þe substance of þis sacrament bene 4 þingz: þe 1 is þat he þat consecrateþ þe eukaristie be ane prest.
1592 W. West Symbolæogr.: 1st Pt. i. §22 The substance of this contract consisteth in the thing solde, and in the price thereof.
a1623 H. Swinburne Treat. Spousals (1686) 141 Resisting the Substance of Matrimony, it overthroweth the Contract.
a1626 F. Bacon Elements Common Lawes (1630) 4 The intention is matter of substance.
1685 Bp. S. Parker Relig. & Loyalty: 2nd Pt. xxxii. 561 This is the substance of the learned Advocates Plea.
1753 A. McDouall Inst. Laws Scotl. III. Index 9/2 The substance of the contract could not, by the civil law, be referred to one of the parties, but only its incidents.
1839 J. Bouvier Law Dict. U.S.A. II. 418/1 Substance, evidence. That which is essential; it is used in opposition to form.
1879 Central Law Jrnl. 9 May 374/1 Matters which do not go to the substance of the contract..do not authorize an abandonment of the contract.
1922 W. M. Lile Outl. Equity Pleading (ed. 2) xiv. 102 There are many other objections besides those going to the substance of the case.
1997 Internat. Law Rep. 105 284 Since the view I take crosses the jurisdictional threshold into the substance of the case, my judicial duty compels me to address these questions.
b. gen. That which gives a thing its character; that which constitutes the essence of a thing; the essential part, essence.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > essence or intrinsic nature > [noun] > essence or essential constituent
substancec1480
basea1550
marrowbone1554
ground1580
subsistence1581
basis1601
essence1656
body1664
hardpan1842
c1480 (a1400) St. Peter 403 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 19 In þis symon dwellis ay twa substance, þat is to wyt, of devel and man, to-gyddir knete.
c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Gouernaunce of Princis (1993) ii. 64 And the substaunce of largess js—to nocht remember apon the gyftis gevin.
1539 C. Tunstall Serm. Palme Sondaye sig. Aiii He was in ful substance, in full essence, in ful glorie, in eternitie, equal with his father.
c1585 R. Browne Answere to Cartwright 55 To be able to teache is not of the substance of a minister, but onely of a lawful minister.
1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke 96 Phi. What doe you call keeping the substance of a note? Ma. When in breaking it, you sing either your first or last note in the same key wherin it standeth, or in his eight.
1620 T. Granger Syntagma Logicum 94 The essences, or substances of things are not here meant.
1694 W. Sherlock Def. Notion of Trinity in Unity 88 The Dean does not pretend to know any thing of the Substance of a Mind, much less of God, who is an infinite Mind.
1716 Alectruonophonia 13 The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper may in like manner be call'd a part of Divine Worship, in respect of the whole Sum and Substance of Religion.
1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 220 Miserable bigots..who hate sects and parties different from their own, more than they love the substance of religion. View more context for this quotation
1856 N. Brit. Rev. 26 41 Modern thought, in its substance, is a congeries of all those refined theistic speculations, of all those baffled aspirations, of all those deep and distracting surmises.
1869 J. B. Mozley Univ. Serm. (1876) ii. 39 It is sufficiently clear that these are not the substance of the character.
1901 Arena Sept. 272 Popular recall, full education, and all the measures needful to protect the form and substance of democracy.
2007 F. T. Noonan Road to Jerusalem 283 The substance of the story had to do with the bishop's mistreatment on his way home at the hands of Adenese.
II. Senses relating principally to physical matter.
7.
a. That of which a physical thing consists; the essential (esp. solid) material of which a body is formed and in virtue of which it possesses certain properties.In quot. a1393: the material of which God shaped created things.fifth substance: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > bodily substance > [noun]
loamc725
flesh and fellc1000
fleshtimbera1225
flesh and blooda1340
powderc1350
substancec1350
claya1400
paste1645
corporeity1647
muscle1819
tissue1834
the world > existence and causation > existence > materiality > [noun] > material
matter1340
substancec1350
subject matter1535
making1623
material1624
substratuma1676
materiality1811
hypostase1867
materiature1881
c1350 Athanasian Creed (BL Add. 17376) in K. D. Bülbring Earliest Compl. Eng. Prose Psalter (1891) 195 He his God, of þe substaunce of þe fader biȝeten to-fore þe worldes; & man, of þe substaunce [L. ex substantia] of þe moder born in þe world.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. l. 211 The hihe pourveance Tho hadde under his ordinance A gret substance, a gret matiere, Of which he wolde..These othre thinges make and forme.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. vi. xx. 321 Mete is substaunce þat is abil to be iturned into þe substaunce of þe body þat is ifed.
?a1425 MS Hunterian 95 f. 159, in Middle Eng. Dict. at Substaunce Repercussiue medicynes..maie be made of enye of þes aforseide, & alle þe substaunce of eche bi hym selfe oþer of hem alle to gidere.
c1484 (a1475) J. de Caritate tr. Secreta Secret. (Takamiya) (1977) 146 Metys..and drynkys..with sqwyche as þe substauns of hys body hath most be refreschyd with.
1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 43 The matter and substaunce of mans body.
1590 J. Smythe Certain Disc. Weapons 3 b Swords of conuenient length, forme and substance, haue been in all ages esteemed by all warlike Nations.
1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets xliv. sig. D2 If the dull substance of my flesh were thought, Iniurious distance should not stop my way. View more context for this quotation
1668 Bp. J. Wilkins Ess. Real Char. ii. iv. 73 Stalk..of a woody substance... Head or spike..having a soft downy substance.
1719 J. Chamberlayne tr. B. Nieuwentyt Relig. Philosopher II. xix. iv. 463 The said Earth being dried..had not lost above two Ounces of its Substance.
1766 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. II. 4 It became necessary..to appropriate to individuals not the immediate use only, but the very substance of the thing to be used.
1829 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Plants 1023 Epiphyllous scattered globular or subdepressed smooth pale at length black, Substance very corneous.
1846 W. S. Landor Citation & Exam. Shakespere in Wks. II. 265 Give a countryman a plough of silver and he will plough with it all the season, and never know its substance.
1859 E. FitzGerald tr. Rubáiyát Omar Khayyám lxi. 13 Surely not in vain My Substance from the common Earth was ta'en.
1927 F. Balfour-Browne Insects iv. 101 The nucleus of the spermatozoon enters and fuses with that of the egg, which, however, first throws off some of its substance, which forms the ‘polar bodies’.
1988 A. C. Clarke 2061 96 As the comet blasted its substance away into space at each perihelion passage, its mass distribution constantly altered.
b. That of which something incorporeal is considered to consist.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > substantiality or concreteness > [noun] > substantiality or subsistence > that by which anything subsists
substancec1440
essencec1585
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. ii. ii. 59 An aungel is substancia intellectual, alwey meuable, fre and bodiles, seruinge God by grace and not bi kynde.]
c1440 (?a1396) W. Hilton in G. G. Perry Eng. Prose Treat. (1921) 17 By abowndance of charite þat es in þe substance of the saule.
c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer House of Fame (Fairf. 16) (1878) l. 768 Euery spech that ys yspoken..In his substaunce ys but aire.
a1500 (a1475) G. Ashby Dicta Philosophorum l. 234 in Poems (1899) 53 A kynge sholde take of his olde acquaintance, His familier seruauntes vertuous,..of Substance, Wele disposed, trewe, not malicious.
1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet i. iv. 99 Dreames..Begot of nothing but vaine fantasie, Which is as thinne a substance as the aire. View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 585 Hard thou knowst it to exclude Spiritual substance with corporeal barr. View more context for this quotation
1682 in F. P. Verney & M. M. Verney Mem. Verney Family 17th Cent. (1907) II. 311 I..am sorry that my Sonne should Be composed of such substance that nothing can shape Him for a Schollar.
1740 G. Cheyne Ess. Regimen 35 That spiritual Substance was analogous to Matter infinitely rarefied, refin'd or sublim'd.
1796 Ess. by Soc. of Gentlemen Exeter 105 It is probable that the Cadomim made no essential alteration in the substance of the language.
1862 H. Spencer First Princ. i. iii. §20. 63 When, instead of the extent of consciousness, we consider its substance.
1907 L. G. Beekman Outl. Swedenborg's Cosmol. i. 12 The image which manifests the inmost action of love, of love as a substance.
1995 M. Gieri Contemp. Ital. Filmmaking: Strategies of Subversion 157 Laughter, then, is a flimsy substance.
8.
a. Any particular kind of matter with uniform properties (without regard to something that it is part of, and so distinguished from sense 7a). As a count and mass noun.food substance: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > materiality > [noun] > matter or corporeal substance > a kind of matter
thingOE
matter1340
substancea1393
corsec1420
gear1489
massa1550
quality1583
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. l. 141 Of man, of beste,..Of fissch, of foughl, of everychon That ben of bodely substance.
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 22 Som oþer strange substance [L. substantiam] like vnto hony.
?1541 R. Copland Guy de Chauliac's Questyonary Cyrurgyens ii. sig. Eiv [The nose] is of thre substaunces, that is to wyt of substaunce flesshely, bony, and cartilagynous.
1597 King James VI & I Daemonologie (1924) 47 The Deuilles parte therein, is but the naked carrying or expelling of that substance [sc. semen].
1644 K. Digby Two Treat. i. xiv. 123 Our designe requireth more maniable substances.
1668 Bp. J. Wilkins Ess. Real Char. ii. x. 259 Grain or some Vegetable, baked in a drier substance without any considerable mixture.
1736 E. Albin Nat. Hist. Spiders 73 The thorax seem'd cas'd with another kind of substance than the belly.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth I. 75 This variety of substances, which compose the internal parts of our globe.
1802 W. Paley Nat. Theol. v. 65 That sort of substance which we call animal substance, as flesh, bone,..cartilage, &c.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 91 When a varnish of any kind is laid over a substance, to prevent it from absorbing water, some allowance should be made for such addition.
1839 J. Lindley Introd. Bot. (ed. 3) 472 Corky..; having the texture of the substance called cork.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps ii. v. 250 Thus, from the mixture of two perfectly transparent substances, we obtain an opaque one.
1920 Jrnl. Amer. Inst. Criminal Law & Criminol. 11 142 A finger-print is merely the marks upon a substance made by the pressure of the finger.
1998 H. H. Guyer Industr. Processes & Waste Stream Managem. iv. 113/1 The containment vessel must be made of a substance that is transparent to UV light wavelengths.
2003 MARPOL: How to do It (Internat. Maritime Organization) (rev. ed.) v. xix. 95 While these technologies can locate a potential oil or chemical slick, they cannot positively identify the type of substance floating on the water.
b. A piece or mass of a particular kind of matter; a whole object made more or less uniformly of some kind of matter. Obsolete.Possible later examples should probably be interpreted in sense 8a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > materiality > [noun] > thing or material object
thingOE
bodya1398
objecta1398
substance1525
cheat1567
solidity1604
article1618
material objecta1651
res extensa1652
extensum1678
businessa1684
animal1729
materiate1755
affair1763
thingy1787
fellow1816
concern1824
jockey1827
toy1895
yoke1910
doojigger1927
bitch1951
1525 tr. H. von Brunschwig Noble Experyence Vertuous Handy Warke Surg. xv. sig. D.iv/1 Whan ye haue dressyd a wounde wt the drynke [= drying] substances afore namyd, & that it wyll nat staunche, than it is necessarie for to remedy the cowrs of ye bledynge [no direct equivalent in Ger. original].
c1595 Capt. Wyatt in G. F. Warner Voy. R. Dudley to W. Indies (1899) 56 In the night a substance of fyre resemblinge the shape of a fierie Dragon should fall into our sailes and theare remaine some quarter of an ower.
1681 P. Bellon tr. F. de Monginot New Myst. Physick Introd. 32 Set the Water in a cold place, in a Glass Body, within eight Days, you will find a congealed Substance in the Bottom of the Vessel.
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at White-Honey-Charge Continue boiling till the Roots and Herbs be reduced to a Mash..throwing away the gross Substance.
1799 H. Lee Canterbury Tales (ed. 2) I. 351 Throwing from him, without examination, some hard substance that incommoded him.
c. spec. A kind of matter of a definite chemical composition, as a compound or element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical substances > [noun]
thingeOE
substancea1550
body1594
magnesium chloride1866
magnesium sulphate1871
a1550 ( G. Ripley Compend of Alchemy (Bodl. e Mus.) f. 63v That oiles substaunce..Ramond lully did call his basilicke, of which he never made so playne detectione.
1582 S. Batman Vppon Bartholome, De Proprietatibus Rerum xv. clxi. f. 242v/1 And there are solempne mountaines, in the which stones be digged, the which being stronglye resolued by fire, turne into the substance of brasse.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Nitre Niter; a (Salt-resembling) substance of colour light-ruddie, or white.
a1696 R. Plot in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) (1698) 20 183 The Mineral Substance, called, Black Lead..found only at Keswick in Cumberland, and there called, Wadt, or Kellow.
1718 J. Quincy Pharmacopœia Officinalis 8 The last is what is forced from Vinegar, Vitriol, and such like acid Substances.
1784 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 74 141 There is the utmost reason to think, that dephlogisticated and phlogisticated air..are quite distinct substances, and not differing only in their degree of phlogistication.
1843 J. A. Smith Productive Farming (ed. 2) 11 The number of simple, or elementary substances, at present known..is fifty-four.
1864 Intell. Obs. No. 32. 93 A new substance..to which I gave the name Santoneine.
1954 Adv. in Carbohydrate Chem. 9 186 This substance, called Indian Yellow, was once an important pigment.
1984 A. C. Duxbury & A. Duxbury Introd. World's Oceans iv. 134 Water was not a simple element but a substance made up of hydrogen and oxygen.
2009 P. Manning Chem. Bonds 49 The formation of ions explains how a poisonous gas can combine with a highly reactive metal to form the white, crystalline substance called table salt.
d. An intoxicant or stimulant, such as a drug, alcohol, etc., which may be abused or used recreationally. Cf. Compounds 1.Recorded earliest in substance abuse n. at Compounds 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > an intoxicating drug > [noun]
drug1668
stuporific1853
candy1925
spike1934
shit1946
juice1957
street drug1967
substance1967
dadah1980
product1983
1967 Press-Telegram (Long Beach, Calif.) 12 Apr. 14/2 The incidence of ‘substance abuse’ in Long Beach schools is surprisingly small.
1974 Bennington (Vermont) Banner 5 June 4/7 Isn't it time we stopped the wild accusations and begin to examine the reasons why our culture uses so many substances?
1984 Jrnl. Substance Abuse Treatm. 2 i. 5/1 Research has demonstrated the presence of neuropsychological impairment in chronic abusers of CNS depressants, including alcohol, as well as opiates and possibly cocaine, especially when such substances are combined in a polydrug pattern of abuse.
1995 Independent 8 Feb. 5/2 The picture of almost universal drug abuse within Styal is unprecedented in a jail—although the general availability of just about every kind of substance throughout the prison system has been a concern for years.
2004 R. Daniels Nursing Fund. xxx. 742/1 The nurse who is abusing substances often takes elaborate steps to hide it in the workplace.
9.
a. The matter of which (a part of) the body of an animal is composed; esp. solid tissue.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > substance > [noun]
substancea1398
tissue1834
biomaterial1960
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. v. v. 178 This humour cristallinus [of the eye]... is round in schap and substaunce [L. substantia].
c1425 tr. J. Arderne Treat. Fistula (Sloane 6) (1910) 34 Þe quitour, þerfore, bigynne to lessen somwhat, and the bolnyng somwhat to cese, and þe colour and þe substaunce of þe skynne for to turne to his ovne naturel habitude.
c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 34v (MED) Þe herte haþ oonly blood in his substaunce.
1535 Trevisa's Bartholomeus De Proprietatibus Rerum (rev. ed.) v. xiv. f. xliv/2 For yf they [sc. the chekes] ben moche roddy and medled with temperat whitenes, and not fat in substance but meanly flesshy: they token hote and moyst complexion.
1577 Vicary's Profitable Treat. Anat. sig. N.j Then come we to Longaon, otherwise called, The tayle gutte, whose substance is panniculer, as of al the other bowels.
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια iv. xiii. 231 The branches of this Hypogastricall veine being entred the substance of the wombe do mingle themselues with the vpper braunches proceeding from the spermaticall.
1668 N. Culpeper & A. Cole tr. T. Bartholin Anat. (new ed.) ii. ix. 117 The Vena arteriosa..is just like the Aorta in substance, largeness, neighbourhood, and Valves.
1724 R. Blackmore Treat. Consumptions 9 An extraordinary Discharge of Flegmatick Matter,..while..the Substance of the Lungs remains sound.
1792 T. Kirkland Comm. Apoplectic & Paralytic Affections 175 We will beg leave to inquire what end is answered by making the paralytic part red in this complaint, when owing to a defect in the substance of the brain.
1804 J. Abernethy Surg. Observ. 178 Blood was discharged mixed with detached pieces of the substance of the brain.
1845 G. Budd On Dis. Liver 347 Irregular dilatation of the sac, so as to form additional pouches in the substance of the liver.
1922 Bull. Johns Hopkins Hosp. 33 51/2 Old ulcerative processes had led to loss of substance of the cranial and other bones.
1949 H. W. C. Vines Green's Man. Pathol. (ed. 17) xxxviii. 1095 Hæmorrhage into the substance of the cord is..usually due to injury.
2008 Med. Knowl. Self-assessment Program Students 4 (American College Physicians) 131/2 CT does not adequately show the substance of the spinal cord.
b. Originally: flesh, esp. as that which is lost in a large or gaping wound. In later use also: muscle (and occasionally also bone), as providing strength to the body, esp. in a horse or dog.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > bodily substance > flesh > [noun]
fleshc1000
lirec1000
quick flesha1382
pulp?a1425
substance?a1425
meat1829
beef1851
?a1425 MS Hunterian 95 f. 93, in Middle Eng. Dict. at Substaunce Þer ben oþire woundes wiþ deperdicioun of substaunce in þe whiche þer is superflue fleische schewynge wiþ oute and excedinge.
c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 125 (MED) In þe cure of a wounde wiþ lost of substaunce, þe bisynesse is diuers aftir þe diuersite of her makynge.
1565 J. Hall Hist. Expost. in tr. Lanfranc Most Excellent Woorke Chirurg. 61 Medicines Conglutinatyues, are suche as gather together the lippes of woundes, wherin ther is no losse of substance.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vi. 657 Thir armor help'd thir harm, crush't in and brus'd Into thir substance pent. View more context for this quotation
1695 W. W. Novum Lumen Chirurgicum Extinctum 23 Any Flesh-Wound where there is considerable loss of Substance.
1750 Lady Luxborough Let. 13 May in Lett. to W. Shenstone (1775) 204 My plaisters are already reduced..to two only: one over my eye,..and one just above my knee, where the loss of substance (as they call it) makes it longer in curing.
1831 W. Youatt Horse iv. 36 A three-fourth, or thoroughbred horse of sufficient substance and height.
1862 Retrospect Pract. Med. & Surg. 44 238 In a large gap, where the loss of substance is to be measured by square inches, no person could expect union by simply paring the edges and drawing them together by the interrupted suture.
1894 Nature's Method in Evol. Life iii. 45 The nervous system becomes highly strung,..and the muscles deficient in size, with a general want of what is known as ‘substance’.
1910 Dog Fancier 19 40/3 (advt.) A direct grandson of the world famous sire and winner,..and has all of his characteristics with greater substance.
1953 Nash's Surg. Physiol. (rev. ed.) v. 134 Healing by secondary intention appears in those wounds in which there is an actual loss of substance.
1970 A. C. L. Hardman Amateur Horse Breeder i. 21 The mare in turn can, if she has substance herself, help to produce the bone.
2008 R. F. Burton Biomedical Calculations 162 It is well known that astronauts on the moon have reduced weights–without loss of substance.
c. Anatomy and Zoology. With distinguishing word: tissue or non-cellular material of a particular kind.colloid, lung, nerve substance, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > bodily substance > [noun] > type of
substance1578
1578 J. Banister Hist. Man f. 94v Onely a Cartilaginous substaunce at the roote of the great arterie, towardes the arteriall veyne is sene.
1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 192 The Cartilaginous Substance of the Ribs,..by this means was crowded in, that it made a notable Cavity.
1753 Philos. Trans. 1751–2 (Royal Soc.) 47 261 The semilunar cartilages, mucilaginous glands, and the adipose substance,..were all moisten'd with sinophia.
1815 J. Gordon Syst. Human Anat. I. 40 Adipose substance.
1853 R. Dunglison Med. Lexicon (ed. 9) Schwann, White Substance of.
1870 W. S. Kent in Ann. Nat. Hist. Mar. 217 The sarcodic substance lining all the interstitial cavities of the sponge.
1922 W. Libby Hist. Med. 269 In considering..the brain, we must take into account not only its nervous tissue, but its membranes, vessels, and interstitial substance.
2010 R. M. Devine in A. P. Zbar & S. D. Wexner Coloproctology 86/2 Nishie et al. described the use of..MR imaging to demonstrate the presence of keratinous substance within a dermoid cyst.
d. Botany. The matter of which (a part of) a plant or fungus is composed; (in later use also) the tissue providing structure and bulk to the plant or a part of it (the quantity of which is frequently regarded as a measure of vigour or quality).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > cell or aggregate tissue > [noun] > tissue
substance1650
tissue1837
syntagma1882
tagma1885
1650 E. Williams Virginia's Discov. Silke-worms 5 Yet to prevent the too grosse substance of the leafe after the tree by the advantage of a rich nourishment.
1777 S. Robson Brit. Flora 15 Bullate, the substance of the leaf rising high above the veins, so as to appear like little blisters.
1793 T. Martyn Lang. Bot. sig. T2v The substance of a vegetable consists of the Epidermis or Cuticle, covering the Cortex or Outer Bark.
1876 Trans. & Proc. Bot. Soc. Pennsylvania 1 339 These suspensory strands are of the same material and in every way identical with the substance of the axial filament.
1893 Garden & Forest 28 June 278/2 Mr Fay's Roses were of fair size,..well-colored, with good foliage, but, as a rule, lacked substance.
1902 Jrnl. Hort., Cottage Gardener & Home Farmer 11 Dec. 536/1 Well-ripened plants have plenty of substance in them, and can easily keep going.
1930 Misc. Publ. No. 109 (U.S. Dept. Agric.) 8 A part of the water is then used in producing the increasing substance of the tree.
1971 Times 21 Apr. 6/7 A shapely white trumpet daffodil is ‘Cortina’, with a broadly crimped and rolled back trumpet of good substance.
2010 K. G. Shadrack & M. Shadrack Bk. of Little Hostas iv. 151 (caption) The very thick substance of the leaves allows this plant to take more sun than expected.
10. The consistency of a fluid; viscosity. Usually with of. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > [noun] > qualities of liquid > consistency
substancea1398
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xix. xlii. 1305 Hoot and druye complexioun..wiþ mene substaunce [L. substantia] maketh salt sauour. And hoote and druye..wiþ þikke substaunce [L. substantia] makeþ bitter.
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 30v (MED) Fleume..in þe substance of it..is made aquous.
a1500 (?a1390) J. Mirk Festial (Gough) (1905) 166 Take he[de] on watyr, and on yse, and on snow; how þay ben ych on dyverse in substance, and ȝet þay ben but watyr.
?1541 R. Copland Maner to Examyne Lazares in Guy de Chauliac's Questyonary Cyrurgyens sig. Rj Whan it [sc. blood] is drawen, consydre the substance and the colour yf it be so as is abouesayde.
1692 W. Salmon Medicina Practica 36/1 By reason they are of thin Substance and parts, their heat is quickly discussed.
1738 G. Smith tr. Laboratory iv. 120 To the Substance of a thin Paste.
11. figurative.
a. Something that is solid or real (as opposed to and often contrasted with appearance, †semblance, shadow, etc.). Also: reality. Cf. semblance n. 4a, shadow n. 6a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > reality or real existence or actuality > [noun] > the reality as opposed to what is apparent
bodyc1384
truth1531
substance1533
person1548
effect1592
hypostasis1605
reality1620
reala1637
essence1646
hypostase1867
1533 tr. Erasmus Enchiridion Militis Christiani xxxi. sig. Q.viijv This lyfe vanissheth awaye faster than smoke, lesse of substaunce than a shadowe [L. umbra inanior].
1576 A. Fleming tr. Hippocrates in Panoplie Epist. 281 The ignoraunce of the world is grosse & palpable: for, touching Nature their skill is but superficiall, and like a shadowe destitute of substaunce.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. ix. sig. V3 Full liuely is the semblaunt, though the substance dead.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus (1623) iii. ii. 79 He takes false shadowes, for true substances.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxxi. 186 A Common-wealth, without Soveraign Power, is but a word, without substance.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 529 With high words, that bore Semblance of worth not substance . View more context for this quotation
1716 S. W. in Nelson's Pract. True Devot. (1784) p. xvi Taught how to take the mystic Bread and Wine, T'adore the Substance, nor neglect the Sign.
1785 W. Cowper Task iv. 527 The poet's hand, Imparting substance to an empty shade, Impos'd a gay delirium for a truth.
1836 F. Marryat Japhet III. ix. 100 I would not lose the substance by running after shadows.
1856 C. Merivale Hist. Romans under Empire V. l. 580 A mere honorary title, and only a presage of the substance that was to follow.
1914 Daily Chron. 28 July 6/3 The Austro-Hungarian communiqué..argues..that Servia conceded the shadows and withheld the substance.
2005 S. Rushdie Shalimar the Clown (2006) 178 They immediately put on their gravest expressions with every appearance (and none of the substance) of obedience.
b. Westminster School. An older pupil who is charged with the responsibility for ensuring that a new boy (his ‘shadow’: see shadow n. 8c) learns the conduct and duties expected of him within the school. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > learning > learner > one attending school > [noun] > pupil at specific school > at other specific schools
substance1811
Grecian1813
gown-boy1853
Rug1856
1811 Scourge 1 Nov. 419 The main principle of the new system might have been discovered in the practice of the Hindoos. More than the use of monitors among ourselves, or the custom of some of our public schools, of placing a new-comer under the care of a substance.
1845 College & T.B. Life at Westm. 25 Oct. After my first week at School, I started altogether on my own account, my Substance then having nothing more to do with me.
1899 W. K. R. Bedford Outcomes Old Oxf. 85 Every neophyte was consigned to the tutelage of some boy already in the school... The shortcomings of the shadow, or tyro, were credited to the preceptor, or substance, and visited with penalties upon the latter.
1902 R. Airy Westminster v. 89 In their second year they..are expected to show the new juniors their way about and teach them their several duties. This custom finds a counterpart in the ‘substance’ and ‘shadow’, of the boarding-houses.
2005 M. Kustow Peter Brook i. i. 11 When he [sc. Brook] first arrived at Westminster School, he recalls being accosted by an archetypal master-race prefect called ‘Brown’..who pronounced the Pirandellian sentence, ‘You're my shadow; I'm your substance.’
III. Senses relating to quantity, possessions, wealth.
12.
a. One's material possessions or the value assigned to these; goods, estate; means, wealth. Now somewhat archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > possessions > [noun] > a person's collective property or substance
thingOE
chattela1240
cattlec1275
i-wonc1275
moneya1325
tilea1325
statec1330
thrifta1350
substancea1382
chevance1477
graith?a1513
estate1563
wortha1586
thrive1592
fortune1596
store1600
boodle1699
circumstancea1704
the mind > possession > wealth > wealth or riches > [noun]
wealc888
ednessa1200
richessea1200
richdomc1225
richesses?c1225
wealtha1275
richesc1275
winc1275
warison1297
wonea1300
merchandisec1300
aver1330
richesc1330
substancea1382
abundancec1384
suffisance1390
talenta1400
pelf?a1505
opulence?1518
wealthsa1533
money bag1562
capital1569
opulency1584
affluency1591
affluence1593
exuberance1675
nabobism1784
money1848
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Prov. iii. 9 Honoure the Lord of thi substaunce [L. de tua substantia].
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Luke xv. 13 He wastide his substaunce [L. substantiam; Gk. οὐσίαν] in lyuynge leccherously.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 9537, l. 9538 Of his substance he gaf ilk-an, And ilk-an gaf he substance an.
c1460 (a1449) J. Lydgate Legend St. Austin (Harl. 2255) l. 8 in Minor Poems (1911) i. 193 Abel..Gaff God his part, tenthe of his substaunce.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Job i. 3 His substaunce was vij. M. shepe, iij. M. camels, v. C. yock of oxen, v. C. she asses, and a very greate housholde.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) i. i. 23 Thy substance, valued at the highest rate, Cannot amount vnto a hundred Markes. View more context for this quotation
1685 J. Evelyn Diary (1955) IV. 484 Innumerable persons of the greatest birth, & riches, leaving all their earthly substance.
1744 S. Fielding Adventures David Simple I. i. viii. 56 It was possible for one Man to be continually rejoicing.., and declaring he had the best of Wives, altho' she spent all his Substance.
1798 W. Wordsworth Female Vagrant in W. Wordsworth & S. T. Coleridge Lyrical Ballads 72 Till all his [sc. my father's] substance fell into decay.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. ii. 156 A fortune raised out of the substance of the ruined defenders of the throne.
1908 Scott. Hist. Rev. Apr. 270 Nor did the country towns boast any brightly dressed shop windows to lure the domestic of those days to waste her substance on fripperies.
2007 J. McCourt Now Voyagers iii. 95 Prosper Swithin had only very recently come through..a more difficult time,..his substance wasted on fairs and fiestas, jigs and reels.
b. As a count noun: an amount of wealth, a fortune; (in plural) riches, possessions. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > possessions > [noun]
goodeOE
auchtOE
havingc1350
facultya1382
substancea1382
propertya1393
haviourc1400
suffisantee1436
aversc1440
propriety1442
livinga1450
goodess1523
gear1535
prog1727
the mind > possession > wealth > wealth or riches > [noun] > an amount of wealth
substancea1382
fortune1596
pile1836
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Ecclus. xli. 1 Hauende pes in his substaunces [a1425 L.V. richessis; L. substantiis].
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Heb. x. 34 Knowynge ȝou for to haue a betere and dwelling substaunce [L. substantiam; Gk. ὕπαρξιν].
1487 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VII (Electronic ed.) Parl. Nov. 1487 §18. m. 10 Wymmen..havyng substaunces, somme in goodes moveable and somme in landes and tenements.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries Pref. sig. Avv Whose brother for the education of youth in true Religion and learning, imploied a wonderful substaunce.
1617 B. Rich Irish Hubbub 47 It is a small substance, that cannot afford some pittance [for the poor].
1688 P. Rycaut tr. G. de la Vega Royal Comm. Peru (new ed.) vi. ii. 187 The Indians..thought it a Prophanation to have that Wealth and Substances which was Dedicated to their Kings, to be converted to the common benefit and use of Strangers.
1733 J. Tull Horse-hoing Husbandry xi. 65 A most sincere Honest Yeoman..from a small Substance he began with, left behind him about Forty Thousand Pound.
13.
a. Maintenance, (means of) subsistence. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > supply of food or provisions > [noun]
victualsa1375
substancec1384
repasta1393
kitchenc1400
tablec1405
stuff1436
acates1465
acatry1522
victualling1532
provision1555
achates1570
plate1577
avitaile1592
support1599
horn and corn1633
subsistence1640
cribbing1652
purvey1678
commissariat1811
ration1814
commissary1883
the mind > possession > supply > [noun] > provision of means of support or livelihood
substancec1384
maintenance1389
sustenance1389
sustentation1389
sustaining1395
findingc1400
uphold1439
retainment1449
exhibition?a1475
entertainment?c1475
upholdingc1480
entertaininga1492
sustenation1496
support1561
alimentation1590
alimony1622
enablement1626
subsisting1698
keep1801
life support1852
palimony1977
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. vi. 11 Ȝif to vs this day oure breed ouer other substaunce [L. supersubstantialem; Gk. τὸν ἐπιούσιον].
c1400 Comm. on Canticles (Bodl. 288) in T. Arnold Sel. Eng. Wks. J. Wyclif (1871) III. 67 (MED) Sees gendren manye fischis to substaunce of mankynde.
1502 tr. Ordynarye of Crysten Men (de Worde) i. iii. sig. c.i v It is not gyuen to hym for substaunce or refeccyon [printed reteccyon] corporell.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. clxx. f. lxxxxvii All thynges that before tyme were gyuen to Abbeys were than more wasted in Glotony and outrage of owners Than in Substaunce and ayde of nedy men.
b. A supply or provision of (something). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > supply > [noun] > that which is supplied > a supply
purveyance1340
substance?c1425
providencec1450
provisionc1451
furnish1500
supply1567
reply?1592
purvey?1615
product1647
sorting1785
?c1425 (c1412) T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum (Royal 17 D.vi) (1860) 176 Yf a man, in tyme of suche a nede, Of his goode yeue you a gode substaunce.
c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) l. 1560 Iason weddit was Vn-to this queen & tok of it substaunce What so hym leste onto his puruyaunce.
1515 in I. S. Leadam Select Cases Star Chamber (1911) II. 79 The said Towne [was] then in better substaunce of goodis good ordre and rule then it is nowe.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Eccl. ii. 7 As for catell and shepe, I had more substaunce of them, then all they yt were before me.
14.
a. The greater number or part, the majority, mass, or bulk of (people, things, etc.). See also sum and substance at Phrases 3. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > plurality > great number, numerousness > [noun] > greater number, majority
moeOE
unfewc1175
most?a1400
most forcea1400
substancea1413
overmatch1542
flush1592
the (great, vast) mass of1604
the millions1604
stream1614
numbers1638
the multiplicity of1639
majority1650
the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > a great part or proportion > the greater part, the majority
the more partOE
the best part ofOE
(the) more parta1350
(the) most parta1350
(the) most part alla1350
(the) most party1372
for (also be, in) the most part (also deal, party)a1387
the better part ofa1393
the mo?a1400
most forcea1400
substancea1413
corsec1420
generalty?c1430
the greater partc1430
three quartersc1470
generalityc1485
the most feck1488
corpse1533
most1553
nine-tenths?1556
better half1566
generality?1570
pluralityc1570
body1574
the great body (of)1588
flush1592
three fourths1600
best1601
heap1609
gross1625
lump1709
bulk1711
majority1714
nineteen in twenty1730
balance1747
sweighta1800
heft1816
chief1841
the force1842
thick end1847
a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iv. l. 217 It moste ben and sholde, For substaunce of þe parlement it wolde.
1462 J. Russe in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 285 The substaunce of jentilmen and yemen of Lodynglond be assygnid to be afore the seyd commesyonerez.
1512 Act 4 Hen. VIII c. 1 §1 The said Countie [sc. Cornwall] is thre score and ten myle in lenght and the substaunce therof right litle more than six myle in brede.
1552–3 Act 7 Edw. VI c. 12 The Kynges Majesties Treasure..waasted, the greate Substaunce of the Moneyes molted and altered in bayse coyne.
1604 J. Hind Most Excellent Hist. Lysimachus & Varrona sig. B1v [Alexandro] thought now..to distribute in their portions the substance of his wealth for the countercheck of pouertie.
1753 True Briton 17 Jan. 43 On Sunday the 17th Mr. Justice Burnet, of the Court of Common Pleas, died at his House in Lincoln's Inn-Fields, and has given the Substance of his Fortune to his Nephews.
1821 Drama or Theatr. Pocket Mag. Aug. 199 Sir Omnium learns that his agent in town has decamped with the substance of his fortune.
1967 J. T. McNeill Hist. & Char. Calvinism 193 A number of the refugees helped, and the patriotic (if not puritanic) Bonivard devoted the substance of his wealth to this good cause.
b. The amount, quantity, or mass (of something). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > [noun]
metc1225
mountancec1330
amountancec1380
mountenancec1385
quantityc1392
quantitya1398
substance1435
mountenessea1450
mountc1475
number1477
feck1488
quantum1602
valour1631
amount1668
amt.1744
volume1882
1435 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1435 §22. m. 3 Ther been diverses persones..that custumabely shippen..notable substance of wolle and wollefelles.
c1500 (?a1475) Assembly of Gods (1896) l. 764 (MED) When Vertew sy the substaunce of hys oost, He prayed all the comons to the felde hem hy.
a1509 in Hist. MSS Comm.: Rep. MSS Var. Coll. (1907) IV. 87 in Parl. Papers 1906 (Cd. 3218) LXIV. 1 A vessaill called the Mighell of Brykelsey..in the whiche diuerse merchauntes of our Citie of London had goodes and merchandises to a grete value and substaunce.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry V f. lvijv He found there innumerable substance of plate and money belongyng to the citezens.
1565 in J. Raine Wills & Inventories N. Counties Eng. (1835) I. 244 Raffe Vasye..oweth me for all my..muke..the substance by estimac[i]on come to or will come to..two hundrethe futhers.
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice iv. i. 325 Be it but so much as makes it light or heauy in the substance, or the deuision of the twentith part of one poore scruple. View more context for this quotation
1696 T. Robinson New Observ. Nat. Hist. i. xx. 76 It cannot be so easily apprehended by what Power or Means this vast substance of Water shou'd be put into so high a degree of Fermentation and Commotion.
1745 S. M. Leake Hist. Acct. Eng. Money (ed. 2) 147 King Henry the Fifth ordained a mint at Calais, whereby great substance of Money of gold and silver had been brought into the realm.
15.
a. The quality of being substantial or of having a solid basis in fact or reality; significance, consequence; (also) steadiness, dependability, or weight of character.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun]
mund?c1250
steemc1330
greatnessc1410
substancec1425
importance1485
weight1521
moment1522
weightiness1530
importancy1531
importunance1546
import1548
reckoning1582
sequel1588
ponderosity1589
valure1594
consequence1597
significance1597
circumstance1599
consequent1599
eminency1622
importmenta1625
concernment1626
consideration1634
telling1636
signification1645
considerableness1647
concerningness1657
nearness1679
significancy1679
respectability1769
interest1809
noteworthiness1852
portee1893
valency1897
the world > existence and causation > existence > substantiality or concreteness > [noun] > substantiality or subsistence > substantial or solid qualities
substancec1425
consistence1626
consistency1709
nature1820
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) v. l. 2869 Incidentes þat bere no substaunce, Whiche were but veyn to put in remembrance.
a1450 (a1397) Prol. Old Test. in Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Cambr. Mm.2.15) (1850) xv. 58 Symple men, that wolden for no good in erthe..putte awei..the leste lettre, either title, of holi writ, that berith substaunce, either charge.
a1500 tr. A. Chartier Traité de l'Esperance (Rawl.) (1974) 66 (MED) Armes, subtiltees, nor good, nor nothing that any man may haue, withowt Hym is but a thin[g] voide and of no substaunce.
1559 Queen Elizabeth I in J. Strype Ann. Reformation (1709) I. ii. 414 Dyvers reasons which appeare unto me to have in them small substance.
1581 B. Rich Farewell Militarie Profession vi. sig. Tiijv Knowyng her housebande to be a man of no verie greate substaunce, and but slenderly stuffed in the hedpeece.
1652 A. Evans Voice from Heaven 65 It is but a deceiveable lying wonder, of no substance.
1784 W. Godwin Imogen I. i. 7 Chastity..gave substance to her accents, and dignity to her gestures.
1858 N. Hawthorne Jrnl. 25 Apr. in French & Ital. Notebks. (1980) iv. 183 Neither rulers nor people had any faith or moral substance.
1863 A. W. Kinglake Invasion of Crimea I. viii. 110 This fact gave great strength and substance to the pretensions of Russia.
1920 Americas Mar. 35/1 The latest news from Germany gives substance to the belief that that country is still far from being in shape to resume its former trade connections.
2007 S. Wales Echo (Nexis) 8 Mar. 59 It will take a man of some substance to connect with the players more tellingly than the Australian.
b. The quality that makes a material firm, solid, and hard-wearing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > [noun] > substance of
substance1591
fabric1823
1591 W. Garrard & R. Hitchcock Arte of Warre i. 4 His Scowrer must be trimmed on the end with a Lynnen cloth of a sufficient substance, therewith to make cleane the cannon of hys Peece within.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Corps,..(in cloth, or stuffe) substance, tacke, stuffinesse.
1685 G. Clarke Treat. Wool & Cattel 17 Causes of the low Price of our Wool.., to wit, the not making of our Cloth of that size and substance as it ought to be.
1760 R. Symmer in Philos. Trans. 1759 (Royal Soc.) 51 370 [It is necessary] that the stockings be of silk; one of a good black, the other of a clear white; and both of the same size and substance.
1833 H. Martineau Loom & Lugger i. ii. 21 You must learn from the French to give your fabrics more substance.
1915 Home Needlewk. Mag. Jan. 29/1 Whichever is used, as there is very little substance to the material, it is well to baste it along the stamped line before cutting away.
2004 L. Kimmelstiel Exquisite Little Knits 131 The second fiber gives this lovely lacelike piece enough substance and warmth to make it an all-weather accessory.
IV. Senses relating to the significant or vital part of something.
16.
a. The subject or matter addressed in a study, discourse, written work, etc.; the subject matter, theme.In some cases difficult to distinguish from sense 17a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of ideation > topic, subject-matter > [noun]
thingeOE
evenOE
questionc1225
purposec1350
themec1380
mattera1387
reasonc1390
substancea1393
chapter1393
occasion1426
titlec1450
intentc1460
article1531
place1532
scope1549
subject1563
argumenta1568
string1583
matter subject1586
subject matter1587
qu.1608
haunt1622
seat1628
object matter1653
business1655
topic1728
locus1753
sub1779
ground1796
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iv. l. 2465 (MED) Of bodies sevene in special With foure spiritz joynt withal Stant the substance of this matiere [sc. alchemy].
a1450 (c1412) T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum (Harl. 4866) (1897) l. 1030 (MED) Lo, fadir, tolde haue I yow þe substance Of al my greef.
a1550 in R. Dyboski Songs, Carols & Other Misc. Poems (1908) 106 I dare not, for þer dissplesans, Tell of þes maters half the substance.
1587 in T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. (new ed.) (title page) Notes conteyning in briefe the substance of the matter handled in each section.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iv. i. 32 Vnto your Grace do I in chiefe addresse The substance of my speech. View more context for this quotation
1665 R. Boyle Disc. iii. v, in Occas. Refl. sig. D6v This, if I forget not, was the substance of the Occasional Meditation, suggested to me by the Storm.
1734 J. Jurin Geom. No Friend to Infidelity 8 I find therefore no other way of reconciling your Title-page with the substance of your discourse.
1875 Encycl. Brit. I. 498/2 There are two Alexandrian schools, distinct both chronologically and in substance. The one is the Alexandrian school of poetry and science, the other the Alexandrian school of philosophy.
1920 H. J. Laski Polit. Thought in Eng. iii. 108 The less essential questions..are hardly now germane to the substance of the debate.
2001 Nature 29 Mar. 518/3 In other words, the SCI [= Science Citation Index] allows the systematic practice of ‘scientometrics’, which provides the substance of much of this book.
b. Contrasted with the manner in which this subject matter is presented or expressed.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of ideation > topic, subject-matter > materials of topic > [noun] > as opposed to form
matter1340
stuffc1450
substancec1475
subject matter1583
c1475 (a1449) J. Lydgate Minor Poems (1934) ii. 538 Yif ought be wrong in metre or in substaunce, Putteth the wyte for dulnesse on Lydgate.
1586 A. Day Eng. Secretorie v. 20 Eloquution..is annexed vnto the stile, which euermore is also tyed to the argument and substaunce of euerye Epistle.
1644 W. Strode Serm. Swearing 9 Our Saviour bars not the substance of Swearing but the manner.
1735 J. Besse Protestant Flail ii. 24 The Declaration which John made them, was both in Substance and Expression the same which Malachi the Prophet had long before declar'd concerning Christ.
1780 Mirror No. 80 Having thus done justice to the merit of those authors in point of substance, I proceed to shew their excellence in the composition and style of their productions.
1841–8 F. Myers Catholic Thoughts II. iii. §8. 29 This influence we may believe to have extended sometimes to the very words of the Revelation, but far more often only to the substance of it.
1877 R. W. Dale Nine Lect. Preaching v. 118 The substance of our preaching has been given to us in a Divine revelation.
1962 Listener 13 Sept. 406/2 After Mr Kokoschka's verve and spontaneity our average spoken word sounds..insipid both in substance and expression.
1992 W. McGowan Only Man is Vile (1993) ix. 172 Although Tamil scholars had dismissed the substance of the Mahavamsa and other Sinhalese chronicles as ‘nothing but a tangled web of cleverly contrived fiction’, they had absorbed the form.
17.
a. That which is embodied in a statement; the meaning or purport of what is expressed in writing or speech; the gist or essential meaning of an account. Also contrasted with the manner in which this is presented or expressed.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > meaning of linguistic unit > drift, tenor, purport > [noun]
sentence?c1225
intent1303
tenora1387
intendment1390
strengthc1390
porta1393
meaningc1395
process1395
continencea1398
purposec1400
substance1415
purport1422
matterc1450
storyc1450
containing1477
contenu1477
retinue1484
fecka1500
content1513
drift1526
intention1532
vein1543
importing1548
scope1549
importance1552
course1553
force1555
sense?1556
file1560
intelliment?1562
proporta1578
preport1583
import1588
importment1602
carriage1604
morala1616
significancy1641
amount1678
purview1688
sentiment1713
capacity1720
spirit1742
message1828
thrust1968
messaging1977
1415 in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1827) 2nd Ser. I. 47 Yf heny of thes persones..woldyn contrary ye substaunce of yat i have wretyn at zys tyme.
1481 W. Caxton tr. Myrrour of Worlde ii. xxv. sig. h. 6 Yf ye wyl here and wel reteyne the mater and substaunce of this present booke.
1502 tr. Ordynarye of Crysten Men (de Worde) i. ii. sig. b.i v I shal put the substaunce of the latyn afore sayd in englysshe.
1576 A. Fleming tr. Cicero in Panoplie Epist. 17 So farre as I gather by the substance of your letters, a certaine kinde of suspicion is signified.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iv. i. 9 I haue receiu'd New dated letters from Northumberland, Their cold intent, tenure, and substance thus. View more context for this quotation
1653 H. Cogan tr. F. M. Pinto Voy. & Adventures lxxix. 321 All of them together, seeming to be Merchants sons,..sung in verse with a very sweet and melodious voyce, words of this substance, ‘High and mighty Lord’ [etc.].
a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1670 (1955) III. 557 This being the substance of what she told me.
1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 233 The substance of the Epigram imports, That Thespis was the first contriver of Tragedy.
1728 J. Rogers Vindic. Civil Establishm. Relig. 18 His long invidious Declamations on these Topicks, which make the Substance of his Letter, are groundless and impertinent.
1794 A. Radcliffe Myst. of Udolpho III. vi. 155 Who repeated the substance of what had passed between Montoni and herself.
1837 Baroness Bunsen in A. J. C. Hare Life & Lett. Baroness Bunsen (1879) I. x. 461 The whole substance of his communications proved a state of vicious disorganization.
1867 J. Ruskin Time & Tide iii. §9 The substance of what I said to them was this.
1903 J. Bryce Stud. in Contemp. Biogr. 285 He made each step so certain that he seldom required to reinvestigate a point or to change, in revising for the press, the substance of what he had written.
1964 ‘N. Blake’ Sad Variety iv. 36 You must on no account tell them about the substance of this conversation.
2009 L. F. Edwards People & their Peace ii. iv. 113 When doubts arose about testimony, they usually involved the credibility of the speakers, rather than the substance of what they said.
b. The main intent or purpose. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > intention > [noun] > intention or purpose > end, purpose, or object > chief
substance1606
great shot1644
1606 G. Chapman Gentleman Vsher iv. sig. F4 To execute the substance of our mindes, In honor'd nuptialls.
18. The vital, principal, or most necessary part of something. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun] > that which is important > essential or central
pitheOE
effectc1405
substancec1450
kernel1556
nick1577
keystone1641
vitals1657
narrow1702
secret1738
ganglion1828
nub1833
primality1846
keyword1848
knub1864
buzzword1946
in word1964
the world > life > source or principle of life > vital principle > [noun]
souleOE
lifeOE
spiritusOE
bloodOE
ghostOE
life and soulOE
quickship?c1225
quicknessc1230
breatha1300
spirita1325
spark1382
naturec1385
sparkle1388
livelinessa1398
rational soula1398
spiracle1398
animal spirit?a1425
vital spiritc1450
soul of the world1525
candle1535
fire1576
three souls1587
vitality?1592
candlelight1596
substance1605
vivacity1611
animality1615
vividity1616
animals1628
life spring1649
archeus1651
vital1670
spirituosity1677
springs of life1681
microcosmetor1684
vital force1702
vital spark (also flame)1704
stamen1718
vis vitae1752
prana1785
Purusha1785
jiva1807
vital force1822
heartbeat1828
world-soul1828
world-spirit1828
life energy1838
life force1848
ghost soul1869
will to live1871
biogen1882
ki1893
mauri1897
élan vital1907
orgone1942
c1450 in F. J. Furnivall Polit., Relig., & Love Poems (1903) 233 ‘The kingis sone’, sche seide, ‘is deed, Þe ioie, þe substaunce of my lijfe.’
1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus i. i. 371 Deare father, soule and substance of vs all. View more context for this quotation
1605 1st Pt. Jeronimo sig. Bv Come my soules spaniell, my lifes ietty substance.

Phrases

P1. in substance. (Cf. substantially adv.)
a. In reality; in actual fact.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > [adverb] > in reality
in substancea1393
indeed1412
in realitya1513
in nature1605
solidly1625
under the skin (also skins)1896
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iv. l. 2563 To receive Bothe in substance and in figure Of gold and selver the nature.
1481 W. Caxton tr. Myrrour of Worlde ii. x. sig. f8 Wyth the watre of this fontayne is the bame watred, and of this water may not be employed ne born in to other place, ffor in substaunce it doth nomore than other water.
1548 R. Crowley Confut. Mishapen Aunswer sig. A.ivv Other wise then the cup was the newe testament or couenaunt established by hys bloude shed on the crosse, that is to saye in significacion and not in substaunce.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 775 Hee the future evil shall no less In apprehension then in substance feel Grievous to bear. View more context for this quotation
1797 E. Burke Remarks Policy Allies in Three Memorials on French Affairs 174 We know that the Monarchy did not survive the Hierarchy, no not even in appearance, for many months; in substance, not for a single hour.
a1868 C. Harpur Poet. Wks. (1984) 106 Not in seeming, but in substance free, To God, as monarch, only bend the knee.
1989 G. Steiner Real Presences i. vi. 27 Originality is antithetical to novelty. The etymology of the word alerts us. It tells of ‘inception’ and of ‘instauration’, of a return, in substance and in form, to beginnings.
b. In general; generally speaking. Obsolete.In Middle English poetry used, esp. by Lydgate, as a metrical tag.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > in general [phrase] > in general terms or not in detail
in substancec1425
in gross1430
at large1533
generally speaking1549
in generality1563
in the general1584
as to the general1617
in general1621
by and large1707
in the vague1851
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) i. l. 976 (MED) Of þe charge þat he on hym leyde..Þis was þe somme pleinly, in substaunce.
1447 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Feb. 1447 §11. m. 5 In whos kepyng the bokes, sureteez and godes in substaunce holy remaigne.
c1450 (?c1408) J. Lydgate Reson & Sensuallyte (1901) l. 645 In especial ther be tweyne [weyes], And thou mayst chese[n], in substaunce, Whiche ys most to thy plesaunce.
a1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Vitell.) l. 5881 Yt behoueth in sentence, That the fulfyllyng in substaunce To the fulle haue suffysaunce.
a1500 (a1450) Generides (Trin. Cambr.) l. 1968 Now haue I here rehersid in substaunce xv kynges, As shortly as I myght, With ther powre and All ther hoole puysaunce.
c. In the main, for the most part. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > generality > in general [phrase] > for the most part
for the more party1372
for (also be, in) the most part (also deal, party)a1387
for the more partc1405
for (the) most partc1405
much dealc1425
in substancea1450
for the mostc1531
in (also for) the generality1580
for the general1581
in (also for, on, upon) the maina1591
largely1594
principally1600
in chiefa1616
mainly1640
nine times (parts, etc.) out of (also in, of) ten1648
greatly1742
as a rule1828
a1450–1500 ( Libel Eng. Policy (1926) 122 By draperinge of oure wolle, in substaunce, Lyvene here comons; this is here governaunce.
1474–5 Rolls of Parl.: Edward IV (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1472 3rd Roll §43. m. 10 The which forseid .x.th part, and .xv.e and .x.e..been in substaunce levied and paied.
a1500 ( Bale's Chron. in R. Flenley Six Town Chron. (1911) 119 And the hertes of the comones in substaunce wer wt þe Erle: And a geinst the seid priour.
d. In essentials, substantially.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > essence or intrinsic nature > [adverb]
formlyc1374
virtuallya1398
essentially1398
pithily1434
substantial1447
in substance1460
quidditativelyc1600
absolutely1654
constitutionally1766
essential1827
substantively1828
1460 G. Sperlyng in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 202 I seid nout but þat I wole abyde by, which was this in substaunce.
1491–2 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VII (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1491 §15. m. 7 All whiche matiers afore rehercid is by the seid John Hayes in substaunce confessed and knowleged.
1581 in D. Digges Compl. Ambassador (1655) 440 She used in substance the like speeches the King had done.
1601 Bp. W. Barlow Serm. Paules Crosse Martij 1600 (title page) Whereunto is annexed a true copie, in substance, of the behauiour, speache, and prayer of the said Earle at the time of his execution.
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant ii. 106 The Religion of the Persians is in substance the same with that of the Turks.
1737 Gentleman's Mag. Nov. 662/1 To this it was replied in Substance as follows.
1821 T. Jefferson Writings (1830) IV. 344 I may misremember indifferent circumstances, but can be right in substance.
1857 J. Keble On Eucharistical Adoration ii. 26 Whitgift..adds, in substance, the same account of it.
1908 Progr. Modernism 118 These are, in substance, our ideas upon the origin of religion.
1999 Courier Mail (Queensland) 24 May 15 His position on east Jerusalem was no different in substance from that of his defeated right-wing predecessor.
e. In a pure or unmixed state, in the natural state. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > state or quality of being simple, unmixed, or uncompounded > simple or unmixed [phrase]
in substance1614
pur sang1846
1614 W. Barclay Nepenthes sig. A7 Tabacco purgeth by slauer onelie, being taken in the mouth in substance or in smoake.
1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. ii. ii. iii. 102 Theophrastus speakes of a Shepheard that could eat Hellebor in substance.
1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy ii. i. iv. ii. 303 A friend..would needs take Hellebor in substance.
1685 R. Boyle Reconcileableness Spec. Med. to Corpusc. Philos. 142 Some..would without scruple, take several Grains of Crude Antimony in substance.
1737 Med. Ess. & Observ. (ed. 2) II. vi. 48 Steel Spaws are every where so frequent in this Part of Scotland where I live, that to imagine them impregnated with Iron in Substance, were to conceive the whole Country in one Mine.
1853 J. W. Comfort Pract. Med. (ed. 4) 527 Peruvian bark is most active when taken in substance.
f. Perhaps (with adjectival force): real, substantial. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > substantiality or concreteness > [adverb]
in (the) bodyc1175
substantiallya1398
materiallyc1443
in substance1649
1649 J. Milton Tenure of Kings 4 When the Common wealth nigh perishes for want of deeds in substance, don with just and faithfull expedition.
g. In effect, virtually. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > essence or intrinsic nature > [adverb] > virtually
in effectc1405
virtuouslya1475
virtuallya1600
equipollently1642
equivalently1644
physically1690
in substance1737
practically1749
essentially1774
1737 London Mag. Mar. 116/1 It is very unsafe for a King to allow one Man, or one Family, to ingross too much..; for by so doing he generally transfers the Royalty in Substance.
1834 H. Taylor Philip van Artevelde i. i. ii Think well What you should say; for if it must be ‘no’ In substance, you shall hardly find that form Which shall convey it pleasantly.
P2. of substance.
a. Of a person: possessing substantial means; well-to-do, wealthy. Chiefly of good (also great) substance, and man (also person, woman) of substance.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > wealth > rich or wealthy [phrase] > well off
well at easec1330
of substance?a1439
at rack and (at) mangera1500
in good case1560
well to live1568
well and warmc1571
well to pass in the worlda1609
inlaid1699
in easy circumstancesa1704
well to do in the world1805
stouth and routh1816
quids in1919
a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) iv. l. 394 Ther was oon..Callid Camyllus, a lord of gret substaunce.
1495–6 in Hist. MSS Comm.: Rep. MSS Var. Coll. (1907) IV. 211 in Parl. Papers (Cd. 3218) LXIV. 1 Suche inhabitantes of grete substans.
?1507 W. Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen (Rouen) in Poems (1998) I. 50 That syre of substance.
a1525 ( Coventry Leet Bk. (1908) II. 435 The Comien Counceill of þe Cite & other persones of substaunce.
1553 T. Paynell tr. St. Augustine 12 Serm. ix. sig. G.viij Many..marye wemen of more nobilitie and substance, then they themselues be.
1600 H. Roberts Haigh for Deuonshire To Rdr. sig. A4 There was dwelling neer, and in the renowned City of Exeter, Totnes, Plymouth, Barnestable, and Tyuerton, many [merchants] of great substance.
1681 in Pennsylvania Arch. (1852) I. 38 Men of substance and reputation.
1716 W. Hawkins Treat. Pleas Crown I. xlii. 109 The marrying a Woman of Substance by Force, and other Offences of the like Nature, were made Felonies by 3 H7. 2.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones II. vii. x. 127 I had provided her a proper Match, a sober Man, and one of Substance . View more context for this quotation
1840 W. M. Thackeray Catherine xxii Hayes's father was reported to be a man of some substance.
1869 R. D. Blackmore Lorna Doone I. i. 2 My father being of good substance, at least as we reckon in Exmoor.
1882 Harper's Mag. Mar. 550/1 The administrator..has..various lands and casitas of his own—a person of substance, in fact.
1934 Times 3 Oct. 5/6 Wilson was represented as a man of considerable substance, with a suite at the Ritz Hotel.
1969 N.Y. Mag. 29 Sept. 29/3 The stylish woman of substance seemed relieved that she had been accepted.
2002 Western Morning News (Plymouth) (Nexis) 14 Nov. 5 He was a man of substance but never one for flashing his wealth around.
b. Of something immaterial: substantial, significant, weighty.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > specifically of things
of substancea1456
solid1601
ponderous1602
of the moment1814
a1456 Ld. Cromwell in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 110 There is a greet straungenesse betwix my right trusty frend John Radcliff and you, withoute any matier or cause of substaunce, as I am lerned.
1483 ( tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage of Soul (Caxton) iv. xxxiii. f. lxxxii The hygher that he is sette in estate, the more shold his wordes be of substaunce and moost of reputacion.
1509 J. Fisher Mornynge Remembraunce Countesse of Rychemonde (de Worde) sig. Aiii Tryfelous thynges yt were lytell to be regarded she wolde let passe by, but the other yt were of weyght & substaunce [etc.].
1602 R. Parsons Manifestation Great Folly iii. f. 36 What one thing of substance do they alleadge against, the sayed father, yf we set aparte, slaunders, scoffes and contumelious speaches?
1650 R. Stapleton tr. F. Strada De Bello Belgico vi. 22 In all these Punctualityes and curious Accommodations for his March, there was nothing of substance, all meerly Show and Colour.
1700 J. Adams Ess. conc. Self-murther xiii. 228 Glory..is something of substance, like solid Imagery, not the slight shadowing of fading Colours.
1779 Town & Country Mag. Jan. 38/2 He appears to have been more tenacious in points of form, than in matters of substance.
1843 O. L. Barbour Treat. Pract. Court of Chancery I. iii. iv. 603 Affidavits ought to be fairly and legibly written, in one hand, without blots or interlineations of any words of substance.
1925 Times 7 Dec. 11/1 Majority and minority reports were made differing on various points of considerable substance.
2004 J. Fellowes Snobs (2005) xviii. 276 We kissed and chatted and ordered, knowing as we did so that there was a conversation of some substance to come, but by mutual consent we waited until our first courses.
c. Of a meal: amply and nourishing. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > meal > [adjective] > qualities of meals
substantial1340
simplea1387
dry1483
of substance?c1500
large1528
hearty?1550
abstemious1604
scrambling1607
running1618
lusty1672
sit-down1789
well-served1796
à la carte1816
slap-up1823
quaresimal1828
scratch1851
square1868
scrambly1900
set1914
handout1915
all-you-can-eat1940
spready1960
carbo-load1986
?c1500 Mary Magdalene (Digby) l. 574 I haue ordeynnyd a dyner of substawns, My chyff freyndes þerwith to chyr.
P3. sum (also †summary) and substance see sum n.1 Phrases 4, summary n. 2.

Compounds

C1. attributive and objective. Originally U.S. In sense 8d, as substance addiction, substance dependence, substance user, etc. See also substance abuse n., substance abuser n. at Compounds 3.
ΚΠ
1968 Amer. Sociologist 3 327/2 The Standing Committee on Substance Misuse of the Institute for the Study of Drug Addiction.
1989 N.Y. Times 12 June a18/6 Those who are trying to help the homeless substance user..are overlooking an important source of information and help in Alcoholics Anonymous and its sister fellowships, Narcotics Anonymous and Cocaine Anonymous.
1993 New Scientist 17 July 48/4 Addiction is properly defined in terms of the extent to which substance use assumes control of an individual's behaviour.
1998 D. Carroll & F. F. Eves in H. S. Friedman Encycl. Mental Health II. 250/2 Like the substance addict, the pathological gambler is consumed by gambling.
2003 Evening Herald (Plymouth) (Nexis) 1 Sept. 4 Most of its clients have a high severity of substance dependence and have usually used drugs or alcohol for more than a decade.
2009 J. S. Turner Amer. Families in Crisis ii. 34 At one time, the term addiction was used almost exclusively for substance addiction, such as dependency on alcohol or cocaine.
C2.
substance-yielding adj. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Substantifique, substantiell, or substance-yeelding.
C3.
substance abuse n. originally U.S. the excessive use, or misuse, of any substance for its intoxicating, stimulant, or narcotic effects; the abuse of alcohol or (esp. illegal) drugs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > [noun]
habit1887
misuse1890
sleigh-ride1925
sleigh-riding1934
scoring1967
substance abuse1967
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [noun] > addiction to alcohol or habitual drinking
intemperancy1586
intemperance1617
bibacity1623
dipsomania1843
bibulousness1844
alcoholism1848
potomania1858
inebriacy1876
alcohol problem1879
drink-habit1890
alcohol abuse1891
toperism1896
oenomania1897
drinking-habit1899
bibulosity1901
drinking problem1957
substance abuse1967
1967 [see sense 8d].
1967 Salt Lake Tribune 25 Dec. e3/1 More than one referral in eight to the court is in the category of acts against self, including substance abuse.
1984 J. Didion Democracy (1985) i. ix. 44 A clinic on East 61st Street that specialized in the treatment of what the therapist called adolescent substance abuse.
2001 A. Solomon Noonday Demon (2002) vi. 217 Depression and substance abuse form a cycle. People who are depressed abuse substances in a bid to free themselves of their depression.
substance abuser n. originally U.S. a person who engages in substance abuse.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > [noun] > drug-user
drug-taker1800
sleigh-rider1833
abuser1847
user1935
joy-popper1936
popper1967
substance abuser1967
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [noun] > one who drinks to excess > alcoholic or habitual drinker
supper?1529
blow-bowl1530
drunkard1530
drunkera1538
blow-bottle1580
tippler1580
potman1589
red nose1591
sot1592
water rat1593
ply-pot1611
potter1632
pothead1639
pisspot1655
pitcher-man1665
whetter1709
inebriate1794
rummy1843
alcoholic1852
oenomaniac1857
dipsomaniac1858
alcoholizer1880
alcoholist1888
potationist1888
lush1890
rumdum1891
rumhound1895
blacklister1904
dipso1923
rumpot1929
alky1944
juice-head1955
alcohol abuser1965
juicer1967
substance abuser1967
jakey1988
1967 Amer. Jrnl. Nursing 67 2208/3 (advt.) Service and Research Center for substance abusers and their families.
1978 Tucson (Arizona) Mag. Dec. 58/3 Kino Hospital's new psychiatric ward can handle 32 patients. Sixteen are what are known as substance abusers.
1987 Truck June 45/2 The American Trucking Association..has pledged to do ‘whatever it takes’ to get substance abusers out of the industry.
2004 H. Kunzru Transmission (2005) 278 He describes himself now, with a certain prim disgust, as a ‘drinker and substance abuser’.
substance-free adj. (a) without substance; insubstantial; (b) originally U.S. not permitting, involving, or using intoxicating, stimulant, or narcotic substances (cf. sense 8d).
ΚΠ
1960 Marriage & Family Living 22 301/1 Only those concepts which are abstract and general (substance-free) are included.
1984 Postville (Iowa) Herald 7 Mar. 13/4 Over 300 communities have expressed an interest in sponsoring substance-free graduation or prom parties.
1998 C. Barker Galilee iii. viii. 130 The article twittered on in the same substance-free manner for several pages; I don't think anything of any moment was said from beginning to end.
2002 Sentinel (Stoke-on-Trent) (Nexis) 27 Aug. 5 A rehabilitation centre geared toward helping recovering drug addicts stay substance-free is set to open in Newcastle.

Draft additions December 2022

substance use disorder n. Psychiatry any of a group of mental health conditions characterized by chronic use of a psychoactive substance over which the affected person has limited self-control, and which persists despite harmful physical and social consequences.
Π
1979 Tribune (Scranton, Pa.) 8 June 22/2 A workshop concerning the new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual III will be held Wednesday... Areas covered are the concept and plan of DSM III, organic mental disorders, substance use disorders, schizophrenic disorders, affective disorders [etc.]
2004 D. K. Novins et al. in R. J. Bonnie & M. E. O'Connell Reducing Underage Drinking Background Papers xiv. 683 In this study, 15 percent of those youth with a substance use disorder..had a comorbid depressive disorder.
2020 Herald-Times (Bloomington, Indiana) 19 Oct. a4/2 Younger veterans are more likely to have a history of substance abuse, and one-fifth of veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are diagnosed with a substance use disorder.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online December 2022).
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