ontology
The branch of metaphysics that addresses the nature or essential characteristics of being and of things that exist; the study of being qua being.
Other meanings
In a subject view, or a world view, the set of conceptual or material things or classes of things that are recognised as existing, or are assumed to exist in context, and their interrelations
The theory of a particular philosopher or school of thought concerning the fundamental types of entity in the universe.
Related words
- subontology
- causal ontology
- ontology alignment
- ontology engineering
- formal ontology
- metaontology
- ontologic
- ontological
- ontologise
- ontologist
- ontologistic
- ontologize
Example sentences
Word history
From Ancient Greek "ὤν" (ὤν, ὄντος).
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “ontology” on Wiktionary, by its contributors; example sentences are from Tatoeba, credited to their authors above, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.