the.com/substance
the thing left after you strip away the shine, the spin, and the small talk
means The real, solid matter or meaningful content of something — what it's actually made of or what it actually amounts to.
from From Latin substantia, 'that which stands beneath' — sub ('under') plus stare ('to stand'). The image is literal: substance is what stands underneath the surface and holds everything up. The word arrived in English through Old French in the medieval period, carrying both the philosophers' sense (the underlying essence of a thing) and the everyday one (stuff, wealth, the gist of a matter).
- physics
- Defines matter with mass that occupies space
- law
- Controlled versions land you in prison
- philosophy
- Aristotle's substance is what underlies all change
- chemistry
- Pure substances have fixed, unwavering composition
- slang
- A person of substance outranks one of style
water — covers 71% of earth's surface and makes up 60% of human body weight
air — 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen, breathed by all terrestrial life
silicon dioxide — primary component of sand and glass, 12% of earth's crust
iron — comprises earth's inner core and is the 4th most abundant element in crust