substrate

noun

sub·​strate ˈsəb-ˌstrāt 

1

: substratum

2

: the base on which an organism lives

the soil is the substrate of most seed plants

3

: a substance acted upon (as by an enzyme)

Did you know?

With its Latin prefix sub-, "below", substrate obviously refers to a layer under something else. Rock may serve as the substrate for the coral in a coral reef. Tiny wafers of silicon (or another semiconductor) serve as the substrate for computer chips. Substrate may also mean subsoil—that is, the layer under the topsoil, lacking in organic matter or humus. Substrate is part of the vocabulary of various other sciences, including chemistry and biology. But although it's mostly a scientific term, writers may also use it to mean simply "foundation"—for instance, when observing that reading is the substrate on which most other learning is based.

Examples of substrate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But, driven in part by machine learning’s enormous appetite for compute power, a demand for ever smaller transistors is expanding the range of materials that could serve as substrates for transistors and all the components of modern computer chips. —IEEE Spectrum, 24 Jan. 2024

That energy-intensive extra step severely limits potential applications since only substrate materials that can withstand such high temperatures can be used. —Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 7 July 2023

But SiC devices are typically grown off axis with respect to the orientation of their substrate crystal’s lattice. —IEEE Spectrum, 16 Jan. 2024

While soil can be a substrate, many mushroom types grow where plants cannot: in wood, straw, coir and manure. —Robert Johnson, Rolling Stone, 18 Dec. 2023

More disks may be possible, maybe even up to 12 disks, but this would require moving these drives to thinner glass substrates which would be stiffer than aluminum substrates as well as changes to the magnetic head height and the head suspensions. —Tom Coughlin, Forbes, 10 Dec. 2023

The same thing can happen with 3D and 4D printing if the print nozzle is too far from the printing substrate. —Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 3 Nov. 2023

Some mushroom products are made with fruiting bodies, others with underground parts of the organism like the mycelium or substrate (the material that the mushroom is in), which obviously makes the product cheaper to manufacture but gives the end consumer fewer health benefits. —Robert Johnson, Rolling Stone, 22 Nov. 2023

That is topped with a few inches of substrate and plants, serving as a functional Dagwood sandwich that helps protect the standard roof underneath. —Bridget Reed Morawski, Washington Post, 12 Oct. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

Medieval Latin substratum

First Known Use

1730, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

substrate

noun

sub·​strate ˈsəb-ˌstrāt 

1

: an underlying layer: as

a

: substratum sense a

b

: the base on which an organism lives or over which it moves

the soil is the substrate of most plants

2

: a substance acted upon (as by an enzyme)

Medical Definition

substrate

noun

sub·​strate ˈsəb-ˌstrāt 

1

: substratum sense 1

2

: the base on which an organism lives

3

: a substance acted upon (as by an enzyme)