| 释义 |
sub·stance
I. \ˈsəbztən(t)s, -bst-\ noun
(-s)
Etymology: Middle English, from Old French, from Latin substantia, from substant-, substans (present participle of substare to stand under, stand firm, from sub- + stare to stand) + -ia — more at stand
1.
a. : essential nature : essence — used especially of the divine nature and then distinguished from hypostasis
< being of one substance with the Father — Nicene Creed >
b. : a fundamental part, quality, or aspect : essential quality or import : the characteristic and essential part
< the substance of his address >
< distinguish a question of substance from one which is merely procedural — Va. Law Review >
< considering the plan in its substance as well as its practical advantages >
c. Christian Science : god II b(6)
2. [translation of Greek ousia] : something that underlies all outward manifestations whether unique (as in monism), one of two (as in dualism), or one of a large or infinite number (as in pluralism) : ultimate reality whether material or spiritual : the abiding part of existence or an existing thing as distinguished from what is accidental to it : the real essence or nature of a thing: as
a. Aristotelianism & Scholasticism
(1) : the primary category presupposed by all the others : something that is the real subject of predication and cannot itself be predicated of anything : subject
< substance … is that which is neither predicable of a subject nor present in a subject; for instance, the individual man or horse — E.M.Edghill >
(2) : the essence of an existing thing : something that makes a thing what it is or gives it its essential nature
(3) : something that supports attributes or modes or exists as the material of individuation : substratum
(4) : an individual being considered as an existent entity : a subsistent entity compounded of matter and form
(5) : genus 2
(6) : universal 2a (3) — compare nominalism, realism 2
b. Cartesianism
(1) : something that depends on no other thing for its existence
(2) : something that depends only on God for its existence
c. Spinozism : the universal underlying principle that exists and can be conceived independently of any other thing — compare mode 6
d. Leibnizianism : monad 1c
e. : an unknowable imperceivable entity that is the bearer of qualities
< if anyone will examine himself concerning his notion of pure substance … he will find he has no other idea of it at all, but only a supposition of he knows not what support of such qualities which are capable of producing simple ideas — John Locke >
also : a complex of qualities together with its unknowable bearer
f. Humean philosophy : a collection of qualities regarded as constituting a unity
< the idea of a substance … is nothing but a collection of simple ideas, that are united by the imagination, and have a particular name assigned them, by which we are able to recall … that collection — David Hume †1776 >
g. Kantianism : a permanent subsisting imperishable substratum necessary for the existence and perception of change in time : that which must be posited in order to assume the duration of a thing rather than a succession of phenomena
< we can only give to a phenomenon the name of substance because we admit its existence at all times — Friedrich Max Müller >
3. archaic : an underlying assurance : basis, ground
4.
a. : material from which something is made and to which it owes its characteristic qualities
< the special substances of nerve tissue >
< a fabric of unknown substance >
b.
(1) : a distinguishable kind of physical matter
(2) : a piece or mass of such substance
< struck by some hard substance >
< an oily substance >
< cork is a substance with distinctive properties >
c. : matter of definite or known chemical composition : an identifiable chemical element, compound, or mixture — sometimes restricted to compounds and elements
< water is a liquid derived from two gaseous substances >
< a chemically pure substance >
5. : material possessions : estate, property, resources
< a man of substance >
6.
a. obsolete : the whole amount or tally of something : quantity
b. : the greater part : majority
< dissipated the substance of his fortune in a few short years >
c. or substance number : basis weight
7. : a material object as distinguished from something shadowy or visionary; also : solidity, substantiality
< an old building but of marked substance >
•
- in substance
II. noun
: something (as drugs or alcoholic beverages) deemed harmful and usually subject to legal restriction
< possession of a controlled substance >
< has a substance problem > |