Meaning

noun the real physical matter of which a person or thing consists

noun the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience

noun the idea that is intended

originInherited 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”). Displaced native Old English andweorc.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0