The word anomoean comes from Greekἀ(ν)- (an-) 'not' and ὅμοιος (omoios) 'similar', thus 'different; dissimilar'. In the 4th century, during the reign of Constantius II, this was the name by which the followers of Aëtius and Eunomius were described. The term heterousian derives from Greekἑτεροούσιος, heterooúsios 'differing in substance' from ἕτερος, héteros 'another' and οὐσία, ousía 'substance, being'.
The semi-Arians condemned the Anomoeans in the Council of Seleucia, and the Anomoeans condemned the semi-Arians in their turn in the Councils of Constantinople and Antioch; erasing the word ὅμοιος (omoios) from the formula of Rimini and that of Constantinople and protesting that the Word had not only a different substance but also a will different from that of the Father. From that, they were to be called ἀνόμοιοι (anomoioi).
In the 5th century, the Anomoean presbyter Philostorgius wrote an Anomoean church history.[3]
Notable Anomoeans
Aëtius, who founded the Anomoean tradition, later bishop (361–?).[4][5]
Theodulus, bishop of Chaeretapa (?–c. 363) and Palestine (c. 363–c. 379).[6][7]
Eunomius, bishop of Cyzicus (360–361) and exiled bishop (361–c. 393).[5][8]
Gregory of Nazianzus, archbishop of Constantinople, prolific writer and orator. The First Theological Oration. A Preliminary Discourse Against the Eunomians.
Gregory of Nyssa, bishop of the Cappadocian town of Nyssa and brother to Basil of Caesaria. Against Eunomius (12 books) and Answer to Eunomius' Second Book.