Definition of: substance

(sub′stəns) noun
1. The material of which anything is made or constituted.
2. The essential part of anything said or written, put into a brief, condensed statement; the gist or purport.
3. The vital part of that which is spiritual or emotional.
4. Material possessions; wealth; property.
5. That which gives stability or solidity; confidence; ground.
6. Philos. The essential nature that underlies phenomena; the permanent cause underlying outward manifestations; that in which qualities or attributes inhere.
7. In Christian Science, Spirit.
8. Any particular kind of material.
9. Essential components or characteristic elements of ideas: The tenets are the same in substance. See synonyms under MASS¹. [<OF <L substantia <substare be present <sub- under + stare stand]