ONTOLOGY

ontology

(noun) the metaphysical study of the nature of being and existence

ontology

(noun) (computer science) a rigorous and exhaustive organization of some knowledge domain that is usually hierarchical and contains all the relevant entities and their relations

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Noun

ontology (countable and uncountable, plural ontologies)

(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.

(uncountable, philosophy) 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; in a body of theory, the ontology comprises the domain of discourse, the things that are defined as existing, together with whatever emerges from their mutual implications.

(countable, philosophy) The theory of a particular philosopher or school of thought concerning the fundamental types of entity in the universe.

(logic) A logical system involving theory of classes, developed by Stanislaw Lesniewski (1886-1939).

(countable, 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 focused rigorously on the study of being as being.

Holonyms

• metaphysics

Anagrams

• tonology

Source: Wiktionary

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On*tol"o*gy, n. Etym: [Gr. -logy: cf.F. ontologie.]

Definition: That department of the science of metaphysics which investigates and explains the nature and essential properties and relations of all beings, as such, or the principles and causes of being.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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