Hypostasis

Part of speech: noun (n.)

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. 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.

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. That which is deposited at the bottom of a fluid; sediment.