noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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Received-Pronunciation:/ɛnˌhaɪ.pəˈsteɪ.sɪ.ə/
Received-Pronunciation:/ɛnˌhaɪ.pəˈsteɪ.ʒə/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ɛnˌhaɪ.pəˈsteɪ.ʒi.ə/
General-American:/-ʒə/
1
noun
Meaning 1
The state of the human nature of Jesus Christ being entirely dependent on, and not existing independently of, the divine nature of God as a whole (which is the hypostasis of the Holy Trinity comprising God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit), or individual persons of the Trinity such as the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: no-plural
Qualifier: Christianity (Christology)
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin enhypostasia, from Ancient Greek ἐν (en, “in”) + ὑπόστασις (hupóstasis, “existence; essence; substance”) + -ία (-ía, suffix forming nouns). ὑπόστασις is in turn derived from ῠ̔πο- (hŭpo-, “below, under”) + στάσις (stásis, “standing”). Compare Ancient Greek ἐνυπόστατος (enupóstatos, “substantial”). The word is analysable as en- + hypostasis + -ia.