Part of speech: Noun
the real physical matter of which a person or thing consists
Example: DNA is the substance of our genes
Categories: Matter, Part, Portion, Component part, Component, Constituent
Part of speech: Noun
material of a particular kind or constitution
Example: the immune response recognizes invading substances
Categories: Physical entity
Part of speech: Noun
a particular kind or species of matter with uniform properties
Example: shigella is one of the most toxic substances known to man
Categories: Matter
Substance, Heart and soul, Nitty-gritty, Message, Kernel
The word "substance" comes from Latin substantia. It started in Old French substance. Then it appeared in Middle English substance.
Words that pass through many languages often accumulate layers of meaning from each culture.