Hypostasis
/haɪˈpɒstəsɪs/noun
The underlying reality of a thing, and in Christian theology each of the three persons of the Trinity.
The Greek roots
Literally: “that which stands underneath”
The story of the word
The fourth-century Trinity debates turned on this word. ὑπόστασις and οὐσία had been near synonyms, both meaning roughly 'substance', and the Cappadocian fathers then fixed the formula of one οὐσία in three ὑποστάσεις. Latin could render both only as substantia, and the resulting confusion kept East and West arguing for centuries. Pathologists use the same word for something entirely physical: blood settling under gravity in a body after death.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 16th century
Same family
In a sentence
He argued that the whole schism rests on a translation problem about hypostasis.
In the post-mortem report, hypostasis on the back indicated the body had not been moved.