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Glite Dictionary
✝️ Same divine essence 🧑‍🎓 Believer in same essence
homoousian

homoousian

9.9
Having the same nature or being, especially of the Father and Son in Christian belief
  • adjective
  • /ˌhoʊməˈuːziən/
  • Formal
translation icon : homoousiano
  • The council affirmed the homoousian belief, stating that the Son is of the same essence as the Father.

Examples

  • Eventually, other bishops traveled to Constantius and informed him that Basil and his party had been promoting the homoousian doctrine when they had just led him to believe that they upheld the opposite view.

    Academic text (2018)

  • Once they had accomplished this feat of deception, Philostorgius claims, they traveled around with this imperial authority to promote the homoousian doctrine.

    Academic text (2018)

  • Many theologians debated the implications of the homoousian doctrine during the early Christian period.

  • The homoousian view was a cornerstone of the Nicene Creed, emphasizing the unity of the divine nature.

Surface Forms

homoousian positive

Morphology

homoousian = homoousios (opaque) = homo + ousia + ian

Although analyzable into Greek elements ('homo-' + 'ousia' + '-ian'), these components are technical/rare and not familiar to an average B1 learner, so the meaning is not transparently recoverable.

Etymology

Homoousian comes from the Greek parts homo- 'same' (as in homogeneous) and ousia 'essence' or 'being'. So, as an adjective, homoousian describes two persons as sharing the same basic or divine nature.