Faith & RitualGreek → English
Monophysite
/məˈnɒfɪsaɪt/noun
A holder of the doctrine that Christ has one nature rather than two, rejected at Chalcedon in 451.
The Greek roots
μόνος
mónos
single, alone
φύσις
phúsis
nature
Literally: “single-natured”
The story of the word
The label was applied by the winning side and the churches it names have never accepted it. They prefer miaphysite, from μία, one, because Greek μόνος implies only one, an exclusion, while μία allows a single nature composed of two. The distinction sounds like hair-splitting until you notice that the Coptic, Syriac and Armenian churches have been outside communion with Rome and Constantinople for fifteen centuries over it.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 17th century
Same family
monopolymonkphysicsmetaphysics
In a sentence
Calling the Ethiopian church Monophysite is a good way to be corrected by anyone who belongs to it.