Other forms: substances
A substance is a particular kind of matter. A sticky substance, a controlled substance, banned substances.
In chemistry it means a material of one definite composition, so water is a substance and seawater is a mixture. In law a controlled substance is a regulated drug. The other sense is seriousness — a speech of no substance. The Latin means standing under.
1nounsubstanceA particular kind of matter.
“Firefighters were called after a strange yellow substance leaked from a lorry.”
2nounseriousnessSeriousness or real content.
“The speech sounded impressive but had little substance.”
Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.
substance is matter, or content.
Latin substantia means what stands under, from sub plus stare, to stand. It translates a Greek philosophical term.
Latin
substantia — substance, essence
Old French
substance
Middle English
substance
English, today
substance
Built from
Middle English substance, from Old French substance, from Latin substantia (“substance, essence”), from substāns, present active participle of substō (“exist”) literally “stand under”, from sub + stō (“stand”). Displaced native andweorc.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA