Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Hypostasis"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Hypostasis \Hy*pos"ta*sis\, n.; pl. {Hypostases}. [L., fr. Gr. ?
subsistence, substance, fr. ? to stand under; ? under + ? to
stand, middle voice of ? to cause to stand. See {Hypo-}, and
{Stand}.]
1. That which forms the basis of anything; underlying
principle; a concept or mental entity conceived or treated
as an existing being or thing.
2. (Theol.) Substance; subsistence; essence; person;
personality; -- used by the early theologians to denote
any one of the three subdivisions of the Godhead, the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Note: The Council of Alexandria (a. d. 362) defined
hypostasis as synonymous with person. --Schaff-Herzog.
3. Principle; an element; -- used by the alchemists in
speaking of salt, sulphur, and mercury, which they
considered as the three principles of all material bodies.
4. (Med.) That which is deposited at the bottom of a fluid;
sediment.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
hypostasis
n 1: the suppression of a gene by the effect of an unrelated gene
[syn: {epistasis}]
2: the accumulation of blood in an organ
3: any of the three persons of the Godhead constituting the
Trinity especially the person of Christ in which divine
and human natures are united
4: (metaphysics) essential nature or underlying reality
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