ontology

/ɒnˈtɒləd͡ʒi/

ontology noun: the branch of metaphysics that addresses the nature or essential characteristics of being and of things that exist; the study of being qua being.

Noun

ontology (countable and uncountable, plural ontologies)

(uncountable) The branch of metaphysics that addresses the nature or essential characteristics of being and of things that exist; the study of being qua being.
- [Martin] Heidegger's concern […] was with ontology, the nature of beings, above all humans. The central question for him was "What is being? What is it for something to be?" He tackled this question not by way of the sciences, but by way of an examination of our prescientific daily life. We are, he...2014 April 12, Michael Inwood, “Martin Heidegger: the philosopher who fell for Hitler [print version: Hitler's philosopher]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review), London, archived from the original on 13...
(uncountable) 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; 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.
- Meronym: taxonomy
- Do you believe in ghosts? Then ghosts are in your ontology, along with tables and chairs and songs and vacations, and snow, and all the rest. It has proved more than convenient to extend the term "ontology" beyond this primary meaning and use it for the set of "things" that an animal can recognize...2017, Daniel C. Dennett, From Bacteria to Bach and Back, →ISBN
(countable) The theory of a particular philosopher or school of thought concerning the fundamental types of entity in the universe.
- 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, page 97
A logical system involving theory of classes, developed by Stanislaw Lesniewski (1886-1939).
(countable) A structure of concepts or entities within a domain, organized by relationships; a system model.

ontology meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Tagalog

ontology in Bengali

study of being: তত্ত্ববিদ্যা tottobidda

ontology in Tagalog

study of being: dalubmagingan

More languagesFewer languages

ontology in Arabic: أُنْطُولُوجِيَّا ʔunṭūlūjiyyā, عِلْم الْوُجُود ʕilm al-wujūd
ontology in Malay: ontologi
ontology in Indonesian: ontologi
ontology in Persian: هستیشناسی
ontology in Thai: ภววิทยา pá-wá-wít-tá-yaa
ontology in Vietnamese: bản thể luận

Examples of ontology in a sentence

[Martin] Heidegger's concern […] was with ontology, the nature of beings, above all humans.2014 April 12, Michael Inwood, “Martin Heidegger: the philosopher who fell for Hitler [print version: Hitler's philosopher]”, in The Daily...
Then ghosts are in your ontology, along with tables and chairs and songs and vacations, and snow, and all the rest.2017, Daniel C. Dennett, From Bacteria to Bach and Back, →ISBN:
Research centered on ontology and security argues that the far-right utilizes cultural anxieties to recruit members of dominant cultures within a society who feel left behind in some way.2020 May 3, Julien Morein, “Murdoch Murdoch: A Case Study in Threats to Ontological Security in Far-Right Propaganda”, in Arcadia...

All 25 example sentences with ontology

Forms of ontology

plural	ontologies

Plural of ontology: ontologies

Origin of ontology

Learned borrowing from New Latin ontologia (1606, Ogdoas Scholastica, by Jacob Lorhard (Lorhardus)), from Ancient Greek ὤν, ὄντος (ṓn, óntos, “being”), present participle of εἰμί (eimí, “being, existing, essence”) + λόγος (lógos, “account”). By surface analysis, onto- + -logy. First known English use 1663: Archelogia philosophica nova; or, New principles of Philosophy. Containing Philosophy in general, Metaphysicks or Ontology, Dynamilogy or a Discourse of Power, Religio Philosophi or Natural Theology, Physicks or Natural philosophy, by Gideon Harvey (1636–1702), London, Thomson, 1663. Popularized as a philosophical term by German philosopher Christian Wolff (1679–1754).

Words formed from ontology

Phrases with ontology

Words that rhyme with ontology

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about ontology

What does ontology mean?: Ontology means the branch of metaphysics that addresses the nature or essential characteristics of being and of things that exist; the study of being qua being.
What is ontology in Tamil?: Ontology in Tamil is உள்ளியம் (uḷḷiyam). See Ontology meaning in Tamil.
How do you use ontology in a sentence?: [Martin] Heidegger's concern […] was with ontology, the nature of beings, above all humans.
What part of speech is ontology?: Ontology is a noun.
How do you pronounce ontology?: Ontology is pronounced /ɒnˈtɒləd͡ʒi/.
What is the plural of ontology?: The plural of ontology is ontologies.

Words near ontology in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: ontology (page history and authors); وجودیات (Urdu) (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: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-ontology.wav.

Cite this entry: “ontology.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ontology. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.