substanceとは

意味・読み方・使い方

語源

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”).

発音

• (米国発音) IPA^(key): /ˈsʌbstəns/, [ˈsʌbstənts]

名詞

substance (countable かつ uncountable, 複数形 substances)

1. Physical matter; material.
   • 1699, William Temple, Heads designed for an essay on conversations

     Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.

   • 2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

     Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.

   Synonyms: matter, stuff

2. The essential part of anything; the most vital part.
   • 1668, John Dryden, Annus Mirabilis: The Year of Wonders, M. DC. LXVI. […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], OCLC 1064438096, (please specify the stanza number):

     Heroic virtue did his actions guide, / And he the substance, not the appearance, chose.

   • 1684-1690, Thomas Burnet, Sacred Theory of the Earth

     This edition is the same in substance with the Latin.

   • 1796, Edmund Burke, Letters on a Regicide Peace

     It is insolent in words, in manner; but in substance it is not only insulting, but alarming.

   Synonyms: crux, gist

3. Substantiality; solidity; firmness.

   Some textile fabrics have little substance.

4. Material possessions; estate; property; resources.

   a man of substance

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Luke 15:13:

     And there wasted his substance with riotous living.

   • c. 1594, William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene i]:

     Thy substance, valued at the highest rate, / Cannot amount unto a hundred marks.

   • 1711 December 8, [Jonathan Swift], The Conduct of the Allies, and of the Late Ministry, in Beginning and Carrying on the Present War, 4th edition, London: […] John Morphew […], OCLC 1204920679, page 26:

     And as we have waſted our Strength and vital Subſtance in this profuſe manner, ſo we have ſhamefully miſapplied it to Ends at leaſt very different from thoſe for which we undertook the War, and often to effect others which after a Peace we may ſeverely repent.

5. A form of matter that has constant chemical composition and characteristic properties.
6. Drugs (illegal narcotics)

   substance abuse

   Synonyms: dope, gear

7. (theology) Hypostasis.

同意語

• (physical matter): See also Thesaurus:substance
• (essential part of anything): See also Thesaurus:gist
• (drugs): See also Thesaurus:recreational drug

関連する語

動詞

substance (三人称単数 現在形 substances, 現在分詞 substancing, 過去形および過去分詞形 substanced)

1. (まれに, transitive) To give substance to; to make real or substantial.
   • 1873, Adeline Dutton Train Whitney, The Other Girls, page 335:

     If life were nothing but what gets phrased and substanced, the world might as well be rolled up and laid away again in darkness.

   • 1982, Dhupaty V. K. Raghavacharyulu, The Song of the Red Rose and Other Poems, page 78:

     The calm ruminating / Reverie, substancing / Intellect into emotion, / Is shelter enough for love / Unhumiliated by faith.

参考

• style