Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An adherent of the doctrine that in the person of Jesus there was but a single, divine nature.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who holds that there is but one nature in Christ; more specifically, one of a sect which teaches that there is but one commingled or compound nature in Christ, partly divine and partly human, in contradistinction to the orthodox doctrine that by the incarnation two complete and perfect natures, the divine and the human, are united without confusion or mutation in the one person of Christ.
  • Same as Monophysitical.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Eccl. Hist.) One of a sect, in the ancient church, who maintained that the human and divine in Jesus Christ constituted but one composite nature. Also used adjectively.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Christianity A member of an early Christian sect which held that Jesus Christ has one nature, as opposed to the orthodox view that Christ has two natures, both fully man and fully God, and is co-eternal and co-substantial with the Father.
  • adjective Describing the beliefs of a Μonophysite.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an adherent of Monophysitism
  • adjective of or relating to Monophysitism

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Late Latin monophysīta, from Late Greek monophusītēs : Greek mono-, mono- + Greek phusis, nature; see bheuə- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Medieval Latin monophysita, from Byzantine Ancient Greek μονοφυσίτης (monophusitēs), from μόνος (monos, "single") + φύσις (phusis, "nature").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word Monophysite.

Examples

  • Unfortunately, however, for his fame he became entangled in that most wearisome of theological debates, which is known as the Monophysite controversy.

    Theodoric the Goth Barbarian Champion of Civilisation Thomas Hodgkin 1872

  • After Mass this morning, I motored down to Cowfold to talk to the Carthusians about the Monophysite heresy and the Council of Chalcedon.

    Chalcedon, Oxford, Blackfen 2009

  • After Mass this morning, I motored down to Cowfold to talk to the Carthusians about the Monophysite heresy and the Council of Chalcedon.

    Archive 2009-07-01 2009

  • Monophysite schism in Egypt following Council of Chalcedon; leads to persecution and martyrdom.

    A survey of West Africa: a Chronology 2007

  • It's also a well-known fact among hagiographers that SEVERAL saints who were technically Arian, Monophysite, or even schismatic-Orthodox have found their ways into the various Catholic calendars, with FULL permission by the Church universal.

    Slow posting continues till mid-August... 2009

  • It is profitable, too, to reflect on the background against which St. Sophronius wrote: the Persian invasions that Emperor Heraclius repelled with desperate fighting, the Monophysite and Monothelite controversies within the Church, and the Moslem assault that placed the birthplace of Christianity under alien rule.

    Lenten Weblog 2005

  • It could be said that the Great Schism and for that matter the Nestorian and Monophysite heresies which produced the Lesser Eastern Churches -- Nestorian, Armenian, Coptic, Syrian, Ethiopian, and Indian owes its roots to clerical pride and jealousy, both Eastern and Western.

    Archive 2007-04-01 2007

  • It could be said that the Great Schism and for that matter the Nestorian and Monophysite heresies which produced the Lesser Eastern Churches -- Nestorian, Armenian, Coptic, Syrian, Ethiopian, and Indian owes its roots to clerical pride and jealousy, both Eastern and Western.

    Looking Eastward? 2007

  • But note my Apollinarian, Pelagian, and Monophysite tendencies; this is because I allow a bit of verbal leniency to certain of their formulas, as able to be taken in a completely orthodox sense. posted by Brandon | 10:18 PM

    Chalcedon Compliant 2006

  • The iconoclastic theologians has argued that the divine nature could not be circumscribed, and when one tries to depict Christ in his human nature, he depicts either a divided Nestorian Christ or a Monophysite Christ.

    Homily for the Feast of St John Damascene Fr Timothy Matkin 2006

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.