homoeostatn.
/ˈhɒmiːəʊstat/ A homoeostatic apparatus or system; something that adapts itself (within limits) to changes in its environment in such a way as to preserve a state of internal stability.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > absence of change, changelessness > stability, fixity > [noun] > source or cause of
stability1678
homoeostat1948
stabilizer1955
1948 W. R. Ashby in Electronic Engin. 20 382 The homeostat will adapt not only to random changes in hand settings but to any change in the dynamic nature of the machine.
1959 S. Beer Cybernetics & Managem. iii. 23 In a homeostat a critical variable is held at a desirable level by a self-regulatory mechanism.
1960 20th Cent. Mar. 269 Something goes wrong with our lives; this puts our homeostat out of order; as a result we may be unable to digest properly (and so we get stomach ulcers).
1964 J. Z. Young Model of Brain i. 3 When we say that living things have ‘needs’ we emphasize that they are self-maintaining systems; ‘homeostats’ in modern terminology.
1971 Nature 22 Jan. 233/2 Beer and others have shown how a large industrial company can usefully be considered as a homeostat.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1976; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
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n.1948