hypostasis noun. [hʌɪ'pɒstǝsɪs] Pl. -ases [-ǝsi:z]. Also (rare) Anglicized as hypostasy. E16.
[ecclesiastical Latin from Greek hupostasis sediment, foundation, subject-matter, (later) substance, existence, essence, personality, formed as HYPO- + stasis standing.]
1. Theology. A person; spec. (a) the single person of Christ, as opp. to his two natures, human and divine; (b) each of the three persons of the Trinity, which are of the same 'substance'. E16.

2. Medicine.
a. A sediment, esp. in urine. Long rare or obsolete. M16.
b. The accumulation of blood or other fluid in a dependent part of the body. M19.
■ D. L. Sayers The hypostasis produced by his having lain a whole week face downwards in the cellar.

3. a. A base or foundation on which something abstract rests. L16-E17.
b. Philosophy. An underlying reality, substance, as opp. to attributes ('accidents') or as distinguished from what is unsubstantial. E17.
c. Essence, essential principle. L17.

4. Genetics. [Back-form. from HYPOSTATIC.] Inhibition of the expression of a gene by another at a different locus. E20.

5. Linguistics. The citing of a word, element, etc., as an example or model; the word etc. so cited. M20.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲