[sub.stance] n [ME, fr. MF, fr. L substantia, fr. substant-, substans, prp. of substare to stand under, fr. sub- + stare to stand--more at stand] (14c) 1 a: essential nature: essence b: a fundamental or characteristic part or quality c Christian Science: god 1b
2. a: ultimate reality that underlies all outward manifestations and change b: practical importance: meaning, usefulness "the ... bill--which will be without ~ in the sense that it will authorize nothing more than a set of ideas --Richard Reeves" 3 a: physical material from which something is made or which has discrete existence b: matter of particular or definite chemical constitution c: something (as drugs or alcoholic beverages) deemed harmful and usu. subject to legal restriction "possession of a controlled ~" "has a ~ problem"
4: material possessions: property "a family of ~" -- sub.stance.less adj -- in substance : in respect to essentials: fundamentally