hypostasis
nounUK /haɪˈpɒstəsɪs/ · US /haɪˈpɑstəsɪs/
Etymology From Ecclesiastical Latin hypostasis, from Ancient Greek ὑπόστασις (hupóstasis, “sediment, foundation; substance, existence, essence”), from ὑπό (hupó, “under”) + στάσις (stásis, “standing”). Morphologically hypo- + -stasis.
7 senses
- 1A sedimentary deposit, especially in urine.
- 2The essential person, specifically the single person of…
- 3The underlying reality or substance of something.
- 4A relationship between a name and a known quantity, as a…
- 5Referring to the hypostatic model of personality; i.e.…
- 6The effect of one gene preventing another from expressing.
- 7Postmortem lividity; livor mortis; suggillation.
- Phi[sitian]. I view’d your vrine, and the Hipoſtates ^([sic – meaning Hipoſtaſis]) / Thick and obſcure doth make your danger great, […]c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The Second Part […], 2nd edition, part 2, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act V, scene vi:
- Thus the kidneys also have their particular excrement which is contained in it and is the hypostasis (deposit).1999, Paracelsus, “Opus Paramirum”, in Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, transl., Essential Readings, North Atlantic Books, page 92:
Lifestyle, Religion, Theology The essential person, specifically the single person of Christ (as distinguished from his ‘nature(s)’, human and divine), or of the three ‘persons’ of the Trinity (sharing a single ‘essence’).
- the hypostases of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
- What did the God who hammered the universe together have to do with virtue, redemption, the strange doctrine of hypostasis?1985 September 1, Anthony Burgess, The Kingdom of the Wicked, London: Hutchinson & Co., →ISBN:
2 more examples
- As Gregory of Nyssa had explained, the three hypostases of Father, Son, and Spirit were not objective facts but simply “terms that we use” to express the way in which the “unnameable and unspeakable” divine nature (ousia) adapts itself to the limitations of our human minds.2000, Karen Armstrong, The Battle for God, Harper, published 2004, page 69:
- As a result of this verbal pact, the Trinity consists of three equal hypostaseis in one ousia: three equal Persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) sharing one Essence or Substance (Trinity or Godhead).2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 218:
Human sciences, Philosophy, Sciences The underlying reality or substance of something.
- Rašnu, the "Judge", appears to be the hypostasis of the idea embodied in the common noun rašnu, "judging, one who judges".1975, Mary Boyce, History of Zoroastrianism, volume I, Brill, page 59:
- The One, Intellect and Soul, then, are the three transcendent sources – or hypostases – of existence.1999, John Gregory, editor, The Neoplatonists: A Reader, page 13:
1 more example
- as far as we know, Porphyry did not consider the divine intellect to be a hypostasis clearly distinct from the Soul, but he often designated it ‘hypercosmic soul’.2006, George E. Karamanolis, Plato and Aristotle in agreement?, page 320:
Human sciences, Linguistics, Philosophy, Sciences A relationship between a name and a known quantity, as a cultural personification (i.e. objectification with personality) of an entity or quality.
Human sciences, Philosophy, Psychology, Sciences Referring to the hypostatic model of personality; i.e., asserting that humans present themselves in many different aspects or hypostases, depending on the internal and external realities they relate to, including different approaches to the study of personality.
Biology, Genetics, Medicine, Natural sciences, Sciences The effect of one gene preventing another from expressing.
- When penetrance is suppressed altogether, the term ‘epistasis’ (and ‘hypostasis’ of the suppressed gene) is used.1997, Vogul & Motulsky, Human Genetics: Problems and Approaches, page 141:
Postmortem lividity; livor mortis; suggillation.
- I am, of course, excluding the hypostasis produced by his having lain a whole week face downward in the cellar. That, naturally, is all in the front part of the body.1937, Dorothy L. Sayers, Busman's Honeymoon:
- Synonyms
- subsistence
- Derived terms
- hypostatic
- Related terms
- anhypostasia, enhypostasia, hypostatize