错讹的译语反而大行其道，这种现象从来都并不罕见。在构词上，拉丁文 substantia 并不贴切希腊文 οὐσία，反倒是 essentia 更加对应 οὐσία。然而，substantia 最终却压过 essentia 成为了后世对 οὐσία 的通译。这当中也许有着古罗马文化因素的干涉：相较于生造词 essentia 在古罗马文化中并无深厚沉淀，substantia 一词对古罗马人而言更为平易近人，而且有古罗 马“虚实观”作为认知上的参照。

It is never uncommon that wrong translations are the most popular ones instead. In terms of word formation, Latin word essentia, but not substantia, is more suitable for Greek word οὐσία. However, substantia finally overwhelmed essentia and became the translation generally accepted for οὐσία. This may be due to some ancient Roman cultural factors: Compared with the coined word essentia, which has no deep precipitation in ancient Roman culture, substantia is more approachable to the ancient Romans. Moreover, the ancient Roman concept of solidum-imago or res-similitudo can also serve as a cognitive reference for them.