substance

sub·stance

S0852500 (sŭb′stəns)n.1. a. That which has mass and occupies space; matter.b. A material of a particular kind or constitution.c. A drug, chemical, or other material (such as glue) that one is dependent on or uses habitually and that is often illegal or subject to government regulation: Which substance was he abusing?2. The most important part or idea of what is said or written; the essence or gist: the substance of the report.3. a. That which is real or practical in quality or character; practical value: a plan without substance.b. Significance or importance: Did he accomplish anything of substance?4. Density; body: Air has little substance.5. Material possessions; goods; wealth: a person of substance.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin substantia, from substāns, substant-, present participle of substāre, to be present : sub-, sub- + stāre, to stand; see stā- in Indo-European roots.]Synonyms: substance², core, gist, purport
These nouns denote the essential import or significance of something spoken or written: the substance of his complaint; the core of a scientific article; the gist of her argument; the purport of a document.

substance

(ˈsʌbstəns) n1. the tangible matter of which a thing consists2. a specific type of matter, esp a homogeneous material with a definite composition3. the essence, meaning, etc, of a written or spoken thought4. solid or meaningful quality5. (General Physics) material density: a vacuum has no substance. 6. material possessions or wealth: a man of substance. 7. (Philosophy) philosophy a. the supposed immaterial substratum that can receive modifications and in which attributes and accidents inhereb. a thing considered as a continuing whole that survives the changeability of its properties8. (Christian Churches, other) Christian Science that which is eternal9. a euphemistic term for any illegal drug10. in substance with regard to the salient points[C13: via Old French from Latin substantia, from substāre, from sub- + stāre to stand] ˈsubstanceless adj

sub•stance

(ˈsʌb stəns)

n. 1. that of which a thing consists; physical matter or material: form and substance. 2. a kind of matter of definite chemical composition: a metallic substance. 3. the actual matter of a thing, as opposed to the appearance or shadow; reality. 4. substantial or solid character or quality: claims lacking in substance. 5. consistency; body. 6. the meaning or gist, as of speech or writing. 7. possessions, means, or wealth. 8. controlled substance. 9. Philos. that which exists by itself and in which accidents or attributes inhere. Idioms: in substance, a. concerning the essentials; substantially. b. actually; really. [1250–1300; Middle English < Latin substantia=sub- sub- + stant-, s. of stāns, present participle of stāre to stand + -ia -ia (see -ance); calque of Greek hypóstasis] syn: See matter.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	substance - the real physical matter of which a person or thing consists; "DNA is the substance of our genes"matter - that which has mass and occupies space; "physicists study both the nature of matter and the forces which govern it"body substance - the substance of the bodyliving substance, protoplasm - the substance of a living cell (including cytoplasm and nucleus)component part, part, portion, component, constituent - something determined in relation to something that includes it; "he wanted to feel a part of something bigger than himself"; "I read a portion of the manuscript"; "the smaller component is hard to reach"; "the animal constituent of plankton"chemistry - the chemical composition and properties of a substance or object; "the chemistry of soil"material, stuff - the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object; "coal is a hard black material"; "wheat is the stuff they use to make bread"phlogiston - a hypothetical substance once believed to be present in all combustible materials and to be released during burningmixture - (chemistry) a substance consisting of two or more substances mixed together (not in fixed proportions and not with chemical bonding)atom - (physics and chemistry) the smallest component of an element having the chemical properties of the elementchemical element, element - any of the more than 100 known substances (of which 92 occur naturally) that cannot be separated into simpler substances and that singly or in combination constitute all matteractivator - (biology) any agency bringing about activation; a molecule that increases the activity of an enzyme or a protein that increases the production of a gene product in DNA transcriptionsubstrate - the substance that is acted upon by an enzyme or fermentelement - one of four substances thought in ancient and medieval cosmology to constitute the physical universe; "the alchemists believed that there were four elements"medium - an intervening substance through which something is achieved; "the dissolving medium is called a solvent"medium - (biology) a substance in which specimens are preserved or displayedfluid - a substance that is fluid at room temperature and pressurevolatile - a volatile substance; a substance that changes readily from solid or liquid to a vapor; "it was heated to evaporate the volatiles"essence - any substance possessing to a high degree the predominant properties of a plant or drug or other natural product from which it is extracted
	2.	substance - the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience; "the gist of the prosecutor's argument"; "the heart and soul of the Republican Party"; "the nub of the story"essence, heart and soul, inwardness, nitty-gritty, pith, gist, kernel, nub, meat, core, sum, marrow, heart, center, centrecognitive content, mental object, content - the sum or range of what has been perceived, discovered, or learnedbare bones - (plural) the most basic facts or elements; "he told us only the bare bones of the story"hypostasis - (metaphysics) essential nature or underlying realityhaecceity, quiddity - the essence that makes something the kind of thing it is and makes it different from any otherquintessence - the purest and most concentrated essence of somethingstuff - a critically important or characteristic component; "suspense is the very stuff of narrative"
	3.	substance - the idea that is intended; "What is the meaning of this proverb?"meaningidea, thought - the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about; "it was not a good idea"; "the thought never entered my mind"semantics - the meaning of a word, phrase, sentence, or text; "a petty argument about semantics"implication, significance, import - a meaning that is not expressly stated but can be inferred; "the significance of his remark became clear only later"; "the expectation was spread both by word and by implication"tenor, strain - the general meaning or substance of an utterance; "although I disagreed with him I could follow the tenor of his argument"undercurrent, undertone - a subdued emotional quality underlying an utterance; implicit meaningdenotation, reference, extension - the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression; the class of objects that an expression refers to; "the extension of `satellite of Mars' is the set containing only Demos and Phobos"reference - the relation between a word or phrase and the object or idea it refers to; "he argued that reference is a consequence of conditioned reflexes"connotation - an idea that is implied or suggested
	4.	substance - material of a particular kind or constitution; "the immune response recognizes invading substances"physical entity - an entity that has physical existence
	5.	substance - considerable capital (wealth or income); "he is a man of means"meanscapital - wealth in the form of money or property owned by a person or business and human resources of economic valuepocketbook - your personal financial means; "that car is too expensive for my pocketbook"wherewithal - the necessary means (especially financial means)
	6.	substance - what a communication that is about something is aboutsubject matter, content, messagecommunication - something that is communicated by or to or between people or groupsbody - the central message of a communication; "the body of the message was short"corker - (dated slang) a remarkable or excellent thing or person; "that story was a corker"reminder - a message that helps you remember something; "he ignored his wife's reminders"petition, request, postulation - a formal message requesting something that is submitted to an authoritymemorial - a written statement of facts submitted in conjunction with a petition to an authoritylatent content - (psychoanalysis) hidden meaning of a fantasy or dreamsubject, theme, topic - the subject matter of a conversation or discussion; "he didn't want to discuss that subject"; "it was a very sensitive topic"; "his letters were always on the theme of love"digression, divagation, excursus, parenthesis, aside - a message that departs from the main subjectmeaning, signification, import, significance - the message that is intended or expressed or signified; "what is the meaning of this sentence"; "the significance of a red traffic light"; "the signification of Chinese characters"; "the import of his announcement was ambiguous"hokum, meaninglessness, nonsense, nonsensicality, bunk - a message that seems to convey no meaningdrivel, garbage - a worthless messageacknowledgement, acknowledgment - a statement acknowledging something or someone; "she must have seen him but she gave no sign of acknowledgment"; "the preface contained an acknowledgment of those who had helped her"refusal - a message refusing to accept something that is offeredinfo, information - a message received and understoodcounseling, counselling, guidance, counsel, direction - something that provides direction or advice as to a decision or course of actiondedication, commitment - a message that makes a pledgecommendation, approval - a message expressing a favorable opinion; "words of approval seldom passed his lips"disapproval - the expression of disapprovalrespects - (often used with `pay') a formal expression of esteem; "he paid his respects to the mayor"discourtesy, disrespect - an expression of lack of respectinsertion, interpolation - a message (spoken or written) that is introduced or inserted; "with the help of his friend's interpolations his story was eventually told"; "with many insertions in the margins"statement - a message that is stated or declared; a communication (oral or written) setting forth particulars or facts etc; "according to his statement he was in London on that day"statement - a nonverbal message; "a Cadillac makes a statement about who you are"; "his tantrums are a statement of his need for attention"humor, wit, witticism, wittiness, humour - a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughteropinion, view - a message expressing a belief about something; the expression of a belief that is held with confidence but not substantiated by positive knowledge or proof; "his opinions appeared frequently on the editorial page"instruction, direction - a message describing how something is to be done; "he gave directions faster than she could follow them"proposal - something proposed (such as a plan or assumption)offering, offer - something offered (as a proposal or bid); "noteworthy new offerings for investors included several index funds"submission, entry - something (manuscripts or architectural plans and models or estimates or works of art of all genres etc.) submitted for the judgment of others (as in a competition); "several of his submissions were rejected by publishers"; "what was the date of submission of your proposal?"narration, narrative, story, tale - a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program; "his narrative was interesting"; "Disney's stories entertain adults as well as children"promotion, promotional material, publicity, packaging - a message issued in behalf of some product or cause or idea or person or institution; "the packaging of new ideas"sensationalism - subject matter that is calculated to excite and please vulgar tastesshocker - a sensational message (in a film or play or novel)
	7.	substance - a particular kind or species of matter with uniform properties; "shigella is one of the most toxic substances known to man"matter - that which has mass and occupies space; "physicists study both the nature of matter and the forces which govern it"food, nutrient - any substance that can be metabolized by an animal to give energy and build tissuenutrient - any substance (such as a chemical element or inorganic compound) that can be taken in by a green plant and used in organic synthesisphilosopher's stone, philosophers' stone, elixir - hypothetical substance that the alchemists believed to be capable of changing base metals into goldallergen - any substance that can cause an allergyassay - a substance that is undergoing an analysis of its componentspyrectic, pyrogen - any substance that can cause a rise in body temperaturepyrogen - any substance characterized by its great flammabilityhydrocolloid - a substance that forms a gel with wateradulterant, adulterator - any substance that lessens the purity or effectiveness of a substance; "it is necessary to remove the adulterants before use"propellant, propellent - any substance that propelsdenaturant - any substance that serves as a denaturing agentinhibitor - a substance that retards or stops an activityferment - a substance capable of bringing about fermentationagent - a substance that exerts some force or effectcarcinogen - any substance that produces cancerdigestive - any substance that promotes digestionfomentation - a substance used as a warm moist medicinal compress or poulticefuel - a substance that can be consumed to produce energy; "more fuel is needed during the winter months"; "they developed alternative fuels for aircraft"lube, lubricant, lubricating substance, lubricator - a substance capable of reducing friction by making surfaces smooth or slipperyhumectant - any substance that is added to another substance to keep it moistinoculant, inoculum - a substance (a virus or toxin or immune serum) that is introduced into the body to produce or increase immunity to a particular diseasejelly - any substance having the consistency of jelly or gelatinleaven, leavening - a substance used to produce fermentation in dough or a liquidrefrigerant - any substance used to provide cooling (as in a refrigerator)lysin - any substance (such as an antibody) or agent that can cause lysispoison, poisonous substance, toxicant - any substance that causes injury or illness or death of a living organismchemical irritant - a substance producing irritationantigen - any substance (as a toxin or enzyme) that stimulates an immune response in the body (especially the production of antibodies)ligand - a substance (an atom or molecule or radical or ion) that forms a complex around a central atommetabolite - any substance involved in metabolism (either as a product of metabolism or as necessary for metabolism)vehicle - any substance that facilitates the use of a drug or pigment or other material that is mixed with it

substance

noun1. material, body, stuff, element, fabric, texture The substance that causes the problem comes from the barley.2. importance, significance, moment, meaningfulness, concreteness It is questionable whether anything of substance has been achieved.3. meaning, main point, gist, matter, subject, theme, import, significance, essence, pith, burden, sum and substance, gravamen (Law) The substance of his discussions doesn't really matter.4. truth, fact, reality, certainty, validity, authenticity, verity, verisimilitude There is no substance in any of these allegations.5. wealth, means, property, assets, resources, estate, affluence mature men of substance

substance

noun1. That which occupies space and can be perceived by the senses:materiality, matter.2. That from which things are or can be made:material, matter, stuff.Idiom: grist for one's mill.3. A basic trait or set of traits that define and establish the character of something:being, essence, essentiality, nature, quintessence, texture.4. The most central and material part:core, essence, gist, heart, kernel, marrow, meat, nub, pith, quintessence, root, soul, spirit, stuff.Law: gravamen.5. The general sense or significance, as of an action or statement:amount, burden, drift, import, purport, tenor.Idioms: sum and substance, sum total.6. The thread or current of thought uniting or occurring in all the elements of a text or discourse:aim, burden, drift, intent, meaning, purport, tendency, tenor, thrust.

Translations

物质化合物实质成分混合物

substance

(ˈsabstəns) noun1. a material. Rubber is a tough, stretchy substance obtained from the juice of certain plants.物质2. as a scientific term, an element, compound or mixture. 成分，物质，化合物，混合物，实质

substance

→ 物质zhCN

substance

substance,

in philosophy, term used to denote the changeless substratum presumed in some philosophies to be present in all being. Aristotle defined substance as that which possesses attributes but is itself the attribute of nothing. Less precise usage identifies substance with being and essence. The quest of philosophers for the ultimate identity of reality led some to define substance as one (see monismmonism
[Gr.,=belief in one], in metaphysics, term introduced in the 18th cent. by Christian von Wolff for any theory that explains all phenomena by one unifying principle or as manifestations of a single substance.
..... Click the link for more information. ). Frequently the monist has identified substance with God, an absolute existing within itself and creating all other forms (Spinoza). According to dualismdualism,
any philosophical system that seeks to explain all phenomena in terms of two distinct and irreducible principles. It is opposed to monism and pluralism. In Plato's philosophy there is an ultimate dualism of being and becoming, of ideas and matter.
..... Click the link for more information. there are two kinds of substance. Descartes, for example, held that mind and matter constitute the two kinds of finite substance. Others have defined substance as material (Hobbes) or mental (Lotze), as static (Parmenides) or dynamic (Heraclitus), as knowable (Aristotle) or unknowable (Hume). Kant argued that our cognitive faculties require that we conceive of the world as containing substance, i.e., something that remains constant in the face of continuous change.

Bibliography

See D. Wiggens, Sameness and Substance (1980).

Substance

objective reality considered in terms of its internal unity. Substance is matter taken in the unity of all its forms of motion, the ultimate principle by which sensuous multiplicity and the variability of properties can be reduced to something constant and relatively stable that has an independent existence.

Monistic philosophies posit the existence of a single substance, dualistic philosophies the existence of two substances, and pluralistic philosophies the existence of a multiplicity of substances. In the history of philosophy, substance has been variously interpreted as a substratum, as the concrete individual, as an essential property, as something that can exist independently, as an object’s foundation and center of change, or as a logical subject.

The Greek and Roman philosophers distinguished various substances, regarding them as the material substratum and fundamental principle of change in things; such were the atoms of De-mocritus and the four elements of Empedocles. For Aristotle, substance was identical to prime essence, constituting a foundation inseparable from a thing itself and from its individual being. In addition to the ontological characteristics of substance, Aristotle identified its logical properties as well: for example, he viewed substance as the subject and not the predicate of judgment and as having the capacity to be manifested in the species and genera of objects. Aristotle’s interpretation of form as first cause, determining the attributes of objects, gave rise both to the distinction between spiritual and corporeal substance and to the dispute about “substantial forms” that permeates medieval philosophy as a whole—for example, in the opposition between nominalism and realism.

In modern philosophy, the analysis of substance developed along two lines. The first line of analysis, which began with F. Bacon’s empiricism, was linked to an ontological understanding of substance as the first principle of being; it was based on a qualitative description of substantial forms and an identification of substance with the form of actual things. In place of this qualitative interpretation, R. Descartes proposed the theory of dual substance: a material substance, which is extensional as well as quantitatively measurable, and a spiritual or mental substance. The difficulties inherent in a dualistic explanation of the relationship between the two substances were overcome in the pantheistic monism of B. Spinoza: in his view, the mental and the extensional are not two substances but rather two attributes of a single substance. G. von Leibniz in his monadology posited the existence of a multiplicity of simple and indivisible substances that are independent, active, and changeable.

The second line of analysis of substance is represented by an epistemological interpretation, which considered the concept of substance in view of its potentiality as indispensable for scientific knowledge. This approach was first adopted by J. Locke, both in his analysis of substance as one of the complex ideas and in his critique of empirical and inductive conceptualizations of substance. G. Berkeley rejected the concept of material substance altogether, although he admitted the existence of a spiritual substance. D. Hume denied the existence of either material or spiritual substance, regarding the notion of substance as merely a hypothesis—an attempt to group perceptions together into a whole, as it were—that is characteristic of commonsense knowledge but not of science.

I. Kant, who further developed the epistemological line of analysis, noted that the concept of substance is essential to the explanation of phenomena on the basis of scientific theory. The category of substance, according to Kant, is a necessary condition for any possible synthetic unity of perceptions, that is, of experience (Soch., vol. 3, Moscow, 1964, p. 254). In contrast to the nondialectical conception of substance as an unchanging material substratum, Kant viewed substance as subject to internal change (ibid, p. 257). This approach was carried still further by G. Hegel, who pointed out the internal contradictions of substance and its self-development. Hegel, however, failed to substantiate in any consistent fashion the dialectical view of substance as a subject that expands in content, inasmuch as he considered substance a stage in the evolution of the “idea” rather than of being.

Contemporary bourgeois philosophy tends to take a negative attitude toward the category of substance and its role in cognition, partly because of science’s increasing attention to the study of concentration systems, connections, and relationships. Nevertheless, attempts are still being made in the natural sciences today to identify a single substance, or prime matter. In the various neopositivist schools of thought, the notion of substance is seen as an element of commonsense knowledge that passed over into scientific usage, representing a dualistic concept of the world and a naturalistic treatment of perception that are methodologically unjustified.

The critics of the concept of substance are aligned on the one hand with critics of materialism and on the other hand with those who reject causality and causal explanation; they try to replace these concepts with description, as P. Duhem does, or with the functional relations of E. Cassirer. In some schools of contemporary bourgeois philosophy, such as existentialism and the philosophy of ordinary language, substance is taken as the starting principle, or point of departure, of a naturalistic metaphysics; the emergence of the concept of substance is explained in terms of the specific structure of European languages, which characteristically contrast the subject to the predicate of judgment. Other schools of thought, such as neo-Thomism and neorealism, have retained the traditional interpretation of substance. Some idealist schools of 20th-century bourgeois philosophy have attempted to identify the substance of culture and of human existence, as exemplified by values in neo-Kantianism or by vital activity in life philosophy.

K. Marx developed a dialectical-materialist doctrine of substance in his analysis of capitalist production and forms of value. In Das Kapital, abstract labor represents the substance of exchange and other forms of value. For dialectical materialism, the category of substance is one of the universal logical characteristics of matter—matter being the effective cause of its own changes—and embodies a causal explanation of the objective world. In contrast to the phenomenalist rejection of the category of substance, Marxism emphasizes its indispensability for a scientific theory of reality, as called for by V. I. Lenin: “On the one hand, knowledge of matter must be deepened to knowledge (to the concept) of Substance in order to find the causes of phenomena. On the other hand, the actual cognition of the cause is the deepening of knowledge from the externality of phenomena to the Substance” (Poln. sobr. soch, 5th ed., vol. 29, pp. 142–43).

REFERENCES

Istoriia marksistskoi dialektiki. Moscow, 1971. Chapter 10.
Il’enkov, E. V. Dialekticheskaia logika. Moscow, 1974.
Orynbekov, M. S. Problema substantsii v filosofii i nauke. Alma-Ata, 1975.
Heidmann, K. Der Substanzbegriff von Abalará bis Spinoza. Berlin, 1890.
Hessen, J. Das Substanzproblem in der Philosophie der Neuzeit. Berlin-Bonn, 1932.

A. P. OGURTSOV

substance

[′səb·stəns] (physics) Tangible material, occurring in macroscopic amounts.

substance

1. material density 2. Philosophya. the supposed immaterial substratum that can receive modifications and in which attributes and accidents inhere b. a thing considered as a continuing whole that survives the changeability of its properties 3. Christian Science that which is eternal

substance

sub·stance

substance

sub•stance

substance

substance

substance

substance

substance

in substance

take the shadow for the substance

controlled substance

a (person) of substance

the sum and substance

form and substance

form and substance

sum and substance

in substance

sum and substance

a woman, man, person, etc. of ˈsubstance

sum and substance

substance

substance,

Bibliography

Substance

REFERENCES

substance

substance

substance

substance

sub·stance

sub·stance

substance

Patient discussion about substance

Substance

Substance

substance

Synonyms for substance

noun material

Synonyms

noun importance

Synonyms

noun meaning

Synonyms

noun truth

Synonyms

noun wealth

Synonyms

Synonyms for substance

noun that which occupies space and can be perceived by the senses

Synonyms

noun that from which things are or can be made

Synonyms

noun a basic trait or set of traits that define and establish the character of something

Synonyms

noun the most central and material part

Synonyms

noun the general sense or significance, as of an action or statement

Synonyms

noun the thread or current of thought uniting or occurring in all the elements of a text or discourse

Synonyms

Synonyms for substance

noun the real physical matter of which a person or thing consists

Related Words

noun the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience

Synonyms

Related Words

noun the idea that is intended

Synonyms

Related Words

noun material of a particular kind or constitution

Related Words

noun considerable capital (wealth or income)

Synonyms

Related Words

noun what a communication that is about something is about

Synonyms

Related Words

noun a particular kind or species of matter with uniform properties

Related Words