different between froth vs substance

English

Etymology

From Middle English froth, frooth, froþ, likely a borrowing from Old Norse froða, from Proto-Germanic *fruþ?; Old English ?fr?oþan (“to foam, froth”) is from same Germanic root. Verb attested from late 14th century.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /f???/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /f???/
• (cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA^(key): /f???/
• Rhymes: -??, Rhymes: -???

Noun

froth (countable and uncountable, plural froths)

1. foam

2. (figuratively) unimportant events or actions; drivel

   Thousands of African children die each day: why do the newspapers continue to discuss unnecessary showbiz froth?

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

froth (third-person singular simple present froths, present participle frothing, simple past and past participle frothed)

1. (transitive) To create froth in (a liquid).
   • 1859, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, Book Two, Chapter 7, [1]

     One lacquey carried the chocolate-pot into the sacred presence; a second, milled and frothed the chocolate with the little instrument he bore for that function; a third, presented the favoured napkin; a fourth (he of the two gold watches), poured the chocolate out.

   I like to froth my coffee for ten seconds exactly.

2. (intransitive) (of a liquid) To bubble.
   • 1842, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Wreck of the Hesperus,” lines 21-4, [2]

     Colder and louder blew the wind,

     A gale from the Northeast,

     The snow fell hissing in the brine,

     And the billows frothed like yeast.

   • 1973, “Black Day in Brussels,” Time, 19 February, 1973, [3]

     English beer, along with European brews, is already the subject of an EEC investigation to determine whether additives like stabilizers (used to prevent frothing during shipment) should be allowed.

3. (transitive) To spit, vent, or eject, as froth.
   • 1690, John Dryden, Don Sebastian, a Tragedy, Act I, Scene 1, [4]

     The Mufti reddens; mark that holy cheek.

     He frets within, froths treason at his mouth,

     And churns it thro’ his teeth […]

   • 1859, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Merlin and Vivien” in Idylls of the King, [5]

     […] is your spleen frothed out, or have ye more?

4. (intransitive) (literally) To spew saliva as froth; (figuratively) to rage, vent one's anger.
   • 1958, Nikos Kazantzakis, The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel (1938), translated by Kimon Friar, London: Secker and Warburg, Book XIII,

     The clumsy suckling struck out with her still soft claws,

     opened her frothing mouth until her milk teeth shone.

   • 1962, “Riding Crime's Crest” in Time, 25 April, 1962, [6]

     As doctors tried in vain to save April's right eye, news stories frothed at her assailant. He was “fiendish” (the Examiner), “sadistic” (the News-Call Bulletin), “probably a sexual psychopath” (the Chronicle).

5. (transitive) To cover with froth.

   A horse froths his chain.

Translations

Derived terms

• frothy
• froth at the mouth
• froth up

References

Anagrams

• Forth, forth, forth-

English

Alternative forms

• substaunce (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English substance, from Old French substance, from Latin substantia (“substance, essence”), from subst?ns, present active participle of subst? (“exist”, literally “stand under”), from sub + st? (“stand”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?s?bst?ns/, [?s?bst?nts]

Noun

substance (countable and uncountable, plural substances)

1. Physical matter; material.
   • 1699, William Temple, Heads designed for an essay on conversations

     Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.

   Synonyms: matter, stuff

2. The essential part of anything; the most vital part.

   • Heroic virtue did his actions guide, / And he the substance, not the appearance, chose.

   • 1684-1690, Thomas Burnet, Sacred Theory of the Earth

     This edition is the same in substance with the Latin.

   • 1796, Edmund Burke, Letters on a Regicide Peace

     It is insolent in words, in manner; but in substance it is not only insulting, but alarming.

   Synonyms: crux, gist

3. Substantiality; solidity; firmness.

4. Material possessions; estate; property; resources.

   • And there wasted his substance with riotous living.
5. A form of matter that has constant chemical composition and characteristic properties.
6. Drugs (illegal narcotics)

   Synonyms: dope, gear

7. (theology) Hypostasis.

Synonyms

• (physical matter): See also Thesaurus:substance
• (essential part of anything): See also Thesaurus:gist
• (drugs): See also Thesaurus:recreational drug

Related terms

Translations

Verb

substance (third-person singular simple present substances, present participle substancing, simple past and past participle substanced)

1. (rare, transitive) To give substance to; to make real or substantial.

See also

• style

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin substantia (“substance, essence”), from subst?ns, present active participle of subst? (“exist”, literally “stand under”), from sub + st? (“stand”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /syp.st??s/
• Rhymes: -??s

Noun

substance f (plural substances)

1. substance

Derived terms

Further reading

• “substance” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• cubassent

Middle English

Etymology

From Old French substance.

Noun

substance

1. essence

Descendants

• English: substance

Old French

Alternative forms

• sostance, sustance

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin substantia.

Noun

substance f (oblique plural substances, nominative singular substance, nominative plural substances)

1. most essential; substantial part
2. existence

Related terms

• substantiel

Descendants