Sŭb’stance1, n.
n. [Fr. substance, Pr., Sp., & Pg. substancia, It. sustanzia, sostanzia, Lat. substantia, from Lat. substare, to be under or present, to stand firm, from prefix sub, under, and stare, to stand.]
Sense 1. That which underlies all outward manifestations; substratum; the permanent subject or cause of phenomena, whether material or spiritual; that in which properties inhere; that which is real, in distinction from that which is apparent, of any existence, in distinction from any accident; that which constitutes any thing what it is; nature; real or existing essence.
Shall no less In apprehension than in substance feel. Milton.
Heroic virtue did his actions guide, And he the substance, not the appearance, chose. Dryden.
Sense 2. The most important element in any existence; the characteristics of any thing; the comprehensive summary; essential import.
This edition is the same in substance with the Latin. Burnet.
It is insolent in words, in manner; but in substance it is not only insulting, but alarming. Burke.
Sense 3. Body; matter; a corporeal existence; material of which a thing is made; solidity.
Sense 4. Material possession; estate; property. “A man of substance and sufficiency, of a large stock, and as large a mind.” South.
We are . . . exhausting our substance, but not for our own interest. Swift.
Sense 5. (Theol.) The divine essence or being;—so called as being that which stands under, or is the subject of, certain attributes or properties, or that in which they inhere.