metaphysics

[ met-uh-fiz-iks ]

See synonyms for metaphysics on Thesaurus.com

noun(used with a singular verb)

the branch of philosophy that treats of first principles, includes ontology and cosmology, and is intimately connected with epistemology.
philosophy, especially in its more abstruse branches.

the underlying theoretical principles of a subject or field of inquiry.
(initial capital letter, italics) a treatise (4th century b.c.) by Aristotle, dealing with first principles, the relation of universals to particulars, and the teleological doctrine of causation.

Origin of metaphysics

First recorded in 1560–70; from Medieval Latin metaphysica, from Medieval Greek (tà) metaphysiká (neuter plural), Greek tà metà tà physiká “the (works) after the Physics”; with reference to the arrangement of Aristotle's writings

Words Nearby metaphysics

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use metaphysics in a sentence

Today, metaphysics is a branch of philosophy that, loosely speaking, deals with those assumptions which physicists make in the constructions of theories that are not grounded in empirical evidence.
Your Guide to the Many Meanings of Quantum Mechanics - Facts So Romantic | Sabine Hossenfelder | September 3, 2020 | Nautilus
“All these questions of physics and metaphysics have changed because physics have changed,” says Sánchez.
Vatican Science on Christmas and Creationism | Christopher Dickey | December 22, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
They are read as being about blackness, as both color and mental state, or even as metaphysics.
Ad Reinhardt's Black (-on-Black) Humor | Blake Gopnik | December 2, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
He is, perhaps, the first crime writer since Christopher Marlowe to have a degree in metaphysics.
Why You Should Read Ken Bruen the Master of Irish Noir | Allen Barra | March 17, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
For Schwartz, the car was a veritable metaphysics of social and psychological meaning.
Our Favorite Books of 2009 | The Daily Beast | December 22, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST

The author has avoided technicalities, and has also resisted the temptation of the psychologist to indulge in metaphysics.
Man And His Ancestor | Charles Morris
metaphysics and natural philosophy expressed the genius of Europe; he substricts the religion of Asia as the base.
Beacon Lights of History, Volume I | John Lord
With Aristotle, ethics formed only one branch of attention; his main inquiries were in reference to physics and metaphysics.
Beacon Lights of History, Volume I | John Lord
All that I had ever read in psychology and metaphysics came back to me.
My New Curate | P.A. Sheehan
Besides these spoils, the poet of to-day revels in the results of later metaphysics.
The Arena | Various

British Dictionary definitions for metaphysics

metaphysics

/ (ˌmɛtəˈfɪzɪks) /

noun(functioning as singular)

the branch of philosophy that deals with first principles, esp of being and knowing
the philosophical study of the nature of reality, concerned with such questions as the existence of God, the external world, etc

See descriptive metaphysics
(popularly) abstract or subtle discussion or reasoning

Origin of metaphysics

C16: from Medieval Latin, from Greek ta meta ta phusika the things after the physics, from the arrangement of the subjects treated in the works of Aristotle

Derived forms of metaphysics

metaphysician (ˌmɛtəfɪˈzɪʃən) or metaphysicist (ˌmɛtəˈfɪzɪsɪst), noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for metaphysics

metaphysics

The field in philosophy that studies ultimate questions, such as whether every event has a cause and what things are genuinely real.

Browse