Word.ws English Dictionary

homoousian

/hɒməʊˈuːzɪən/

homoousian adjective: having the same essence or substance, especially with reference to the first and second persons of the Trinity (Father and Son).

Adjective

homoousian (not comparable)

  1. Having the same essence or substance, especially with reference to the first and second persons of the Trinity (Father and Son).
    • But the more fashionable saints of the Arian times, the intrepid Athanasius, the learned Gregory Nazianzen, and the other pillars of the church, who supported with ability and success the Nicene doctrine, appeared to consider the expression of substance as if it had been synonymous with that of...1781, Edward Gibbon, chapter XXI, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume II, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, page 252
    Synonyms:
    consubstantial

Noun

homoousian (plural homoousians)

  1. (historical) One of those, in the 4th century, who accepted the Nicene Creed and maintained that the Son had the same essence or substance with the Father.
    • The Greek word, which was chosen to express this mysterious resemblance, bears so close an affinity to the orthodox symbol, that the profane of every age have derided the furious contests which the difference of a single diphthong excited between the Homoousians and the Homoiousians.1781, Edward Gibbon, chapter XXI, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume II, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, page 257

Synonyms of homoousian

Forms of homoousian

pluralhomoousians

Origin of homoousian

From Ancient Greek ὁμοούσιος (homooúsios) + -an, from ὁμός (homós, “same”) + οὐσία (ousía, “essence”).

Words formed from homoousian

Questions about homoousian

What does homoousian mean?
Homoousian means having the same essence or substance, especially with reference to the first and second persons of the Trinity (Father and Son).
What part of speech is homoousian?
Homoousian can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce homoousian?
Homoousian is pronounced /hɒməʊˈuːzɪən/.

Words near homoousian in the dictionary

  1. homooligomerization
  2. homooligomerize
  3. homooligomers
  4. homoorientin
  5. homoousia
  6. homoousian
  7. homoousianism
  8. homoousians
  9. homoousiast
  10. homoousiasts
  11. homoousion

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: homoousian (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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