Ontology
WordNet
noun
(1) The metaphysical study of the nature of being and existence
WiktionaryText
Etymology
From
Etymology
From {{etyl|grc}}
Etymology
From {{etyl|grc}} {{Polytonic (on), present participle of εἰμί, ‘being’, ‘existing’, ‘essence’ and {{Polytonic (logos) ‘account’. Introduced as a philosophical term by Christian Wolf (1679-1754).
Noun
{{en-noun|ontolog|ies}}
- {{uncountable|philosophy}} The branch of metaphysics that addresses the nature or essential characteristics of being and of things that exist; the study of being qua being.
- {{countable|philosophy}} The theory of a particular philosopher or school of thought concerning the fundamental types of entity in the universe.
- 2000, C.D.C. Reeve, Substantial Knowledge: Aristotle's Metaphysics, Hackett Publishing, p. 97,
- The answer to the controversial question of whether Aristotle's ontology includes non-substantial particulars, then, is that it does.
- 2000, C.D.C. Reeve, Substantial Knowledge: Aristotle's Metaphysics, Hackett Publishing, p. 97,
- {{logic}} A logical system involving theory of classes, developed by Stanislaw Lesniewski (1886-1939).
- {{context|computer science|information science}} A structure of concepts or entities within a domain, organized by relationships; a system model.
Usage notes
In the field of philosophy there is some variation in how the term "ontology" is used. "Ontology" is a much more recent term than "metaphysics" and takes its root meaning explicitly from the Greek term for "being." "Ontology" can be used loosely as a rough equivalent to "metaphysics" or more precisely to denote that subset of the domain of metaphysics which is focussed rigorously on the study of being as being.