Substantive

How to spell substantive

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce substantive

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does substantive mean?

1. adjectiveHaving a firm, real basis; meaningful and important rather than trivial or merely formal.

Substantive in a sentence

• The committee made no substantive progress at the meeting.

• Investors wanted a substantive change in the company's strategy.

Where does substantive come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin substantia, meaning 'substance' or 'essence', which itself was built from the verb substare, 'to stand firm' or 'to stand underneath', combining sub ('under') with stare ('to stand'). The idea was that the essence of a thing is what stands beneath its outward appearance and gives it solid reality. The late Latin adjective substantivus carried the sense of 'self-standing' or 'having real existence', and medieval grammarians used it for nouns, words that name something with independent existence rather than merely describing it. English took the word in through Old French during the 1300s, keeping both the grammatical sense and the broader meaning of 'real, solid, of genuine importance'. The buried stare root, the same one inside 'stable' and 'stand', is a useful reminder of the central -sta- in the spelling.

How the word is built

• sub- (under)
• sta (from stare: to stand)
• -ant (forming an adjective)
• -ive (tending to)