homeostasis

English

Alternative forms

• homoeostasis (UK)
• homœostasis (dated)

Etymology

Coined from Ancient Greek ὅμοιος (hómoios, “similar, the same”) +‎ -stasis by Walter Bradford Cannon, from Ancient Greek στάσις (stásis, “standing, state”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌhɒmɪə(ʊ)ˈsteɪsɪs/, /ˌhəʊmɪə(ʊ)ˈsteɪsɪs/

• Audio (Received Pronunciation):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌhoʊ.mi.oʊˈsteɪ.sɪs/
• Rhymes: -eɪsɪs

Noun

homeostasis (countable and uncountable, plural homeostases)

1. (physiology) The ability of a system or living organism to adjust its internal environment to maintain a state of dynamic constancy; such as the ability of warm-blooded animals to maintain a stable temperature.
   • 2002, "Walter Bradford Cannon" in American Journal of Physiology, 92(10):1594-5, DOI 10.2105/AJPH.92.10.1594

     His most important work concentrated on the complexities of chemical neurotransmission (for which Otto Loewi received a Nobel Prize in 1936) and on “homeostasis” (a term coined by Cannon in 1926), the maintenance of steady states in the body and the physiological processes through which they are regulated.

   • 2011, Professional Guide to Pathophysiology, Lippincott, Williams, & Wilkins, page 1:

     When homeostasis is disrupted by an external stressor - such as injury, lack of nutrients, or invasion by parasites or other organisms - illness may occur.

2. Such a dynamic equilibrium or balance.

Usage notes

Not to be confused with hemostasis.

Derived terms

• homeostatic
• metal homeostasis

Related terms

• stasis
• proteostasis

Translations

ability to stabilize internal environment

• Arabic: تَجَانُس m (tajānus)
• Armenian: հոմեոստազ (hy) (homeostaz)
• Belarusian: гамеаста́з m (hamjeastáz)
• Bulgarian: хомеоста́за f (homeostáza), хомеоста́зис m (homeostázis)
• Catalan: homeòstasi (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 穩態 / 稳态 (zh) (wěntài), 恆定狀態 / 恒定状态 (héngdìng zhuàngtài), 恆定性 / 恒定性 (héngdìngxìng), 體內平衡 / 体内平衡 (tǐnèi pínghéng)

• Czech: homeostáza (cs) f
• Danish: homøostase c
• Dutch: homeostase (nl) f
• Finnish: homeostaasi (fi)
• French: homéostasie (fr) f
• Georgian: ჰომეოსტაზი (homeosṭazi)
• German: Homöostase (de) f, Selbstregulation (de) f
• Hungarian: homeosztázis (hu)
• Icelandic: samvægi n
• Indonesian: homeostasis (id)
• Irish: hoiméastáis f, aonstádas m
• Italian: omeostasi (it) f
• Japanese: 恒常性 (ja) (こうじょうせい, kōjōsei), ホメオスタシス (ja) (homeosutashisu)
• Kazakh: гомеостаз (kk) (gomeostaz)
• Korean: 항상성(恆常性) (hangsangseong)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: hevsengiya navekî f

• Persian: هم‌ایستایی (ham-istâyi)
• Polish: homeostaza (pl) f
• Portuguese: homeostase (pt) f
• Russian: гомеоста́з (ru) m (gomeostáz)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: homeostaza (sh) f

• Slovak: homeostáza
• Slovene: homeostaza f
• Spanish: homeostasis (es) f
• Swedish: homeostas (sv) c
• Ukrainian: гомеоста́з m (homeostáz)
• Vietnamese: cân bằng nội môi, hằng tính nội môi

Further reading

• “homeostasis”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Indonesian

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin homoeostasis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /homeoˈstasɪs/
• Rhymes: -sɪs, -ɪs, -s
• Hyphenation: ho‧mé‧o‧sta‧sis

Noun

homéostasis (plural homeostasis-homeostasis)

1. (physiology) homeostasis, homoeostasis

Further reading

• “homeostasis” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Spanish

Etymology

From homeo- +‎ Ancient Greek στάσις (stásis, “stability”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /omeosˈtasis/ [o.me.osˈt̪a.sis]
• Rhymes: -asis
• Syllabification: ho‧me‧os‧ta‧sis

Noun

homeostasis f (plural homeostasis)

1. (physiology) homeostasis

Derived terms

• homeostático

Further reading

• “homeostasis”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10