资料来源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Hypostasis \Hy*pos"ta*sis\, n.; pl. {Hypostases}. [L., fr. Gr. ?
   subsistence, substance, fr. ? to stand under; ? under + ? to
   stand, middle voice of ? to cause to stand. See {Hypo-}, and
   {Stand}.]
   1. That which forms the basis of anything; underlying
      principle; a concept or mental entity conceived or treated
      as an existing being or thing.

   2. (Theol.) Substance; subsistence; essence; person;
      personality; -- used by the early theologians to denote
      any one of the three subdivisions of the Godhead, the
      Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

   Note: The Council of Alexandria (a. d. 362) defined
         hypostasis as synonymous with person. --Schaff-Herzog.

   3. Principle; an element; -- used by the alchemists in
      speaking of salt, sulphur, and mercury, which they
      considered as the three principles of all material bodies.

   4. (Med.) That which is deposited at the bottom of a fluid;
      sediment.

资料来源 : WordNet®

hypostasis
     n 1: the suppression of a gene by the effect of an unrelated gene
          [syn: {epistasis}]
     2: the accumulation of blood in an organ
     3: any of the three persons of the Godhead constituting the
        Trinity especially the person of Christ in which divine
        and human natures are united
     4: (metaphysics) essential nature or underlying reality
     [also: {hypostases} (pl)]

hypostases
     See {hypostasis}