monoousian

English

WOTD – 26 January 2013, 26 January 2015

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μονοούσιος (monooúsios, “of one substance”), from μόνος (mónos, “alone, only, sole, single”) + οὐσία (ousía, “being, substance, essence”) +‎ -ian.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌmɑnoʊˈuzi.ən/, /-ʒən/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌmɒnəʊˈuːzɪən/, /-ʒən/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mon‧o‧ou‧si‧an

Adjective

monoousian (not comparable)

1. (theology) Having one and the same nature or essence, especially with regard to the persons of the Trinity.
   • 1678, Ralph Cudworth, The True Intellectual System of the Universe‎^[1], volume I:

     But the homoousian Trinity of the orthodox went exactly in the middle, betwixt that monoousian trinity of Sabellius, which was a trinity of different notions or conceptions only of one and the self-same thing, and that other heteroousian trinity of Arius, which was a trinity of separate and heterogenous substances (one of which only was God, and the other creatures); […]

   • April 1867, The American Presbyterian and Theological Review‎^[2], volume 5, number 18, page 339:

     The use of the word "monoousian," as above, may mislead; for the orthodox view of the trinity has unquestionably and necessarily a monoousian basis; there is, and can be, but one essence in the godhead.

   • 1884, Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church‎^[3], volume III, T. & T. Clark, pages 676–677:

     The trinitarian idea of personality lies midway between that of a mere form of manifestation, or a personation, which would lead to Sabellianism, and the idea of an independent, limited human personality, which would result in tritheism. In other words, it avoids the monoousian or unitarian trinity of a threefold conception and aspect of one and the same being, and the triousian or tritheistic trinity of three distinct and separate beings.

Synonyms

• monoousious

Translations

having one and the same nature or essence

• Greek: μονοούσιος m (monooúsios)

See also

• homoousian
• homoiousian
• heteroousian

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “monoousian”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)