# hypostasis

> English word · Noun · IPA /haɪˈpɒstəsɪs/

## Definitions
1. A sedimentary deposit, especially in urine.
2. The essential person, specifically the single person of Christ (as distinguished from his two ‘natures’, human and divine), or of the three ‘persons’ of the Trinity (sharing a single ‘essence’).
3. The underlying reality or substance of something.
4. The underlying reality or substance of something.
5. The underlying reality or substance of something.
6. The effect of one gene preventing another from expressing.
7. Postmortem lividity; livor mortis; suggillation.

## Etymology
From Ecclesiastical Latin hypostasis, from Ancient Greek ὑπόστασις (hupóstasis, “sediment, foundation; substance, existence, essence”), from ὑπό (hupó, “under”) + στάσις (stásis, “standing”). Morphologically hypo- + -stasis.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/hypostasis