Etymograph

English

homeostasis

Homeostasis comes from Ancient Greek στάσις ‘standing, state’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *steh₂-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*steh₂-1‘to stand’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stéh₂tis2‘standing, position’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*státis2‘standing’reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEστάσις3stásis‘standing, state’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2002homeostasis3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *stéh₂tis
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek στάσις
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English homeostasis
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2002, "Walter Bradford Cannon" in American Jou: “His most important work concentrated on the complexities of…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*steh₂-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *stéh₂tis‘to stand’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stéh₂tisWiktionary, Ancient Greek στάσις‘standing, position’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*státisWiktionary, Ancient Greek στάσις‘standing’reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEστάσιςWiktionary, English homeostasisstásis‘standing, state’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2002homeostasisWiktionary, English homeostasis. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2002, "Walter Bradford Cannon" in American Jou: “His most important work concentrated on the complexities of…”

Formed from ὅμοιος ‘similar, the same’ + -stasis

The story

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

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- ‘to stand’

state, system, post, rest, stay, stand, constitution, distance, stood, contest, stadium, instance, stable, stem, destination, consistent, establish, assistant, stability, destiny, instant, testimony, substance, assistance, assist, distant, static, resist, stud, insist, persistent, consist, prostitution, stationary, stool, prostitute, substitution, attest, extant, stamina, 155 more

through Proto-Indo-European *stéh₂tis ‘standing, position’

stead, stade, 11 more

Today it means

noun 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.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “homeostasis”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *stéh₂tis, Ancient Greek στάσις. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- / homeostasis

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