substrate

[ suhb-streyt ]

noun

1. a substratum.
2. Biochemistry. the substance acted upon by an enzyme.
3. Electronics. a supporting material on which a circuit is formed or fabricated.

substrate

/ ˈsʌbstreɪt /

noun

1. biochem the substance upon which an enzyme acts
2. another word for substratum
3. electronics the semiconductor base on which other material is deposited, esp in the construction of integrated circuits

substrate

/ sŭb′strāt′ /

1. The material or substance on which an enzyme acts.
2. See more at enzyme
3. The surface on or in which plants, algae, or certain animals, such as barnacles or clams, live or grow. A substrate may serve as a source of food for an organism or simply provide support.

Word History and Origins

Origin of substrate¹

First recorded in 1570–80; variant of substratum

Example Sentences

You simply can’t carry out a logic of infinite growth on a finite substrate.

From MIT Technology Review

Somehow in that bustling cytoplasm, enzymes need to find their substrates, and signaling molecules need to find their receptors, so the cell can carry out the work of growing, dividing and surviving.

From Quanta Magazine

A thick gob forms as the substance melts and gravity pulls the substrate down several stories through a tube while sensors monitor its temperature.

From Popular-Science

Their approach relies on a novel process for etching channels directly into the chip substrate.

From Singularity Hub 

First, if the processes that mix and spread heritable information are universal, their implementation could depend acutely on the environments and substrates in which they operate.

From Nautilus

Each 6000kg sculpture is lowered to the seabed where it is drilled into the substrate to lessen the effects of turbulent weather.

From The Daily Beast

Reason therefore leads us to assume a common substrate of all things that are subject to change.

From Project Gutenberg

Seemingly there is little difference between species in preference of nesting sites; a sandy substrate is probably preferred.

From Project Gutenberg

Almost any other kind of illustration would fail to explain how the substrate can remain the same in the presence of forms.

From Project Gutenberg

If such be the nature of existence, it could be neither body, nor the substrate of bodies; for their existence is nonentity.

From Project Gutenberg

If we remove form from matter, the substrate that then remains neither seems nor is large (since magnitude is part of form).

From Project Gutenberg