homoean means pertaining to the belief established in the fourth century as a middle ground between the homoousian and homoiousian positions, contending merely that the Father is ‘like’ the Son. It carries an Arena rating of 1185, earned across 9 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, homoean ranks #2,191 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words, #2,475 of 17,151 for The Improbable, #3,501 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words, #4,809 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words.
homoean is pronounced /hɒˈmiːən/.
Why “homoean” is a great word
Pertaining to a fourth-century theological compromise which held that the Son is 'like' the Father, derived from Latin *homoeus* (from Ancient Greek ὅμοιος (hómoios, 'like, similar')) and the English suffix -an (pertaining to). Unlike 'Homoousian,' which stakes everything on the perilous specificity of 'same substance,' or 'Arian,' which carries the stark baggage of a created and subordinate Son, 'Homoean' is the architecture of deliberate ambiguity. It is the careful, noncommittal nod in a council of shouting bishops; the crafted phrase in a creed designed to paper over a schism; the quiet, administrative hope that a grammatical similarity could bear the weight of cosmic truth—a fragile peace purchased with a strategic vagueness.
Etymology
From Latin homoeus, from Ancient Greek ὅμοιος (hómoios, “like, similar”), + -an.
adj
- Pertaining to the belief established in the fourth century as a middle ground between the homoousian and homoiousian positions, contending merely that the Father is ‘like’ the Son.e.g.“Maybe the Homoean formula of Ariminum would have succeeded in uniting the Church if Constantius had not unexpectedly died in his mid-forties in 361.” — 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 216:
noun
- Someone who subscribes to this belief.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- homoiousian 77% match — One of the Semi-Arians of the 4th century who held that the Son was of like, but not the same, essence or substance with the Father. vs homoean →
- homoousian 76% match — Having the same essence or substance, especially with reference to the first and second persons of the Trinity (Father and Son). vs homoean →
- homeomeric 67% match — Pertaining to or characterised by sameness of parts or homogeneity of structure; advocating or receiving the doctrine of homoeomery. vs homoean →
- heteroousianism 66% match — The belief that the first and second persons of the Trinity have different essence or substance. vs homoean →
- homeoidal 61% match — Pertaining to or resembling a homeoid. vs homoean →
- homoeomeria 59% match — The state or quality of being homogeneous in elements or first principles; likeness or identity of parts. vs homoean →
- homoeologous 57% match — (of a chromosome) Similar in genetic makeup, especially that were homologous in an ancestral form. vs homoean →
- homeomorphous 57% match — Similar in form or structure. vs homoean →