epistemology
/ɪˌpɪstəˈmɒləd͡ʒi//ɪˌpɪstəˈmɑləd͡ʒi/
epistemology noun: the branch of philosophy dealing with the study of knowledge; the theory of knowledge, asking such questions as "What is knowledge?", "How is knowledge acquired?", "What do people know?", "How do we know what we know?", "How do we know it is true?", and so on.
Noun
epistemology (countable and uncountable, plural epistemologies)
- The branch of philosophy dealing with the study of knowledge; the theory of knowledge, asking such questions as "What is knowledge?", "How is knowledge acquired?", "What do people know?", "How do we know what we know?", "How do we know it is true?", and so on.
- Some thinkers take the view that, beginning with the work of Descartes, epistemology began to replace metaphysics as the most important area of philosophy.
- [P]hilosophers of the time [early 20th century] were primarily concerned with epistemology and the foundations of the sciences; they often spoke as if we were separated from the real world by a screen of "representations" or "sense-data"; they tended to regard our approach to the world as one of...2014 April 12, Michael Inwood, “Martin Heidegger: The philosopher who fell for Hitler [print version: Hitler’s philosopher]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review section), London, page R10
- Synonyms:
- epistemics, kenlore, metaknowledge
- A particular instance, version, or school thereof; a particular theory of knowledge.
- In his epistemology, Plato maintains that our knowledge of universal concepts is a kind of recollection.
- I believe that 'intuitionism' is usually, and rightly, taken to mean Brouwer's epistemology of mathematics, which is unrelated to the origin or content of topos theory.1995, Colin McLarty, “Preface”, in Elementary Categories, Elementary Toposes, →ISBN, page vii
epistemology meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
epistemology in Hindi
- branch of philosophy dealing with the study of knowledge
- ज्ञानमीमांसा jñānmīmānsā
epistemology in Tamil
- branch of philosophy dealing with the study of knowledge
- அறிவாய்வியல் aṟivāyviyal
epistemology in Urdu
- branch of philosophy dealing with the study of knowledge
- علمیات 'ilmiyāt
epistemology in Bengali
- branch of philosophy dealing with the study of knowledge
- জ্ঞানতত্ত্ব gênototto
More languagesFewer languages
- epistemology in Telugu
- జ్ఞానమీమాంస jñānamīmāṁsa
- epistemology in Malayalam
- വിജ്ഞാനശാസ്ത്രം vijñānaśāstraṁ
- epistemology in Kannada
- ಜ್ಞಾನಮೀಮಾಂಸೆ jñānamīmāṃse
- epistemology in Punjabi
- ਗਿਆਨਮੀਮਾਂਸਾ giānamīmānsā
- epistemology in Gujarati
- જ્ઞાનમીમાંસા jñānmīmā̃sā
- epistemology in Nepali
- प्रमाणशास्त्र pramāṇaśāstra
- epistemology in Tagalog
- alaman, dalub-alaman, epistemolohiya
- epistemology in Arabic
- إِبِسْتِمُولُوجِيَّا ʔibistimolojiyyā, نَظَرِيَّةْ اَلمَعْرِفَة naẓariyyat al-maʕrifa
- epistemology in Malay
- epistemologi
- epistemology in Indonesian
- epistemologi
- epistemology in Persian
- معرفتشناسی ma'refat-šenâsi
- epistemology in Thai
- ญาณวิทยา yaa-ná-wít-tá-yaa
- epistemology in Vietnamese
- nhận thức luận
- epistemology in Myanmar
- အက်ပီစတမ်မိုလော်ဂျီ akpica.tammuilaugyi
Examples of epistemology in a sentence
- Philosophy is often divided into five major branches: logic, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and aesthetics.
- One type of epistemology is natural and the other is learned.
- Artists entangle epistemologies by turning scientific information into a representational device in its own right.
Synonyms of epistemology
Forms of epistemology
| plural | epistemologies |
|---|
Origin of epistemology
From Ancient Greek ἐπιστήμη (epistḗmē, “science, knowledge”), from ἐπίσταμαι (epístamai, “to know”) + -λογία (-logía, “study or logic of”), from λόγος (lógos, “speech, language”). The term was introduced into English by Scottish philosopher James Frederick Ferrier (1808–1864).
Words formed from epistemology
Words that rhyme with epistemology
- homology
- topology
- technology
- mythology
- ontology
- theology
- typology
- aetiology
- anthology
- archaeology
- biology
- buttonology
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- etymology
- pathology
- phraseology
- psychology
- scatology
- tautology
- apology
- cosmology
- cryptology
- ecology
- neurology
- teleology
- aerology
- anthropology
- arcology
- Christology
- cohomology
- cosmetology
- cytology
- deontology
- eschatology
- ethology
- eucology
- geology
- gerontology
- graphology
- haplology
- heterology
- hydrology
- ideology
- lepidopterology
- oology
- phonology
- radiology
- tricknology
- xenobiology
- zoology
- zymology
- acanthology
- acarology
- accidentology
- acology
- acridology
- actinology
- aeromycology
- alcohology
- appropriate technology
- archaeopalynology
Questions about epistemology
- What does epistemology mean?
- Epistemology means the branch of philosophy dealing with the study of knowledge; the theory of knowledge, asking such questions as "What is knowledge?", "How is knowledge acquired?", "What do people know?", "How do we know what we know?", "How do we know it is true?", and so on.
- What is epistemology in Hindi?
- Epistemology in Hindi is ज्ञानमीमांसा (jñānmīmānsā). See Epistemology meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is epistemology?
- Epistemology is a noun.
- How do you pronounce epistemology?
- Epistemology is pronounced /ɪˌpɪstəˈmɒləd͡ʒi/ (UK).
- What is the plural of epistemology?
- The plural of epistemology is epistemologies.
Words near epistemology in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: epistemology (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-epistemology.ogg, en-us-epistemology.ogg.
Cite this entry: “epistemology.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/epistemology. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.