metaphysics
noun
Form of metaphysic , plural of metaphysic.
Simple meaning
The branch of philosophy which studies fundamental principles intended to describe or explain all that is.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
mehtuhfiziksSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
mɛtəˈfɪzɪks
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
philosophyuncountable
The branch of philosophy which studies fundamental principles intended to describe or explain all that is, and which are not themselves explained by anything more fundamental; the study of first principles; the study of being insofar as it is being (Latin: ens in quantum ens).
philosophycountable
The view or theory of a particular philosopher or school of thinkers concerning the first principles which describe or explain all that is.
uncountableby extension from the philosophical sense
Any fundamental principles or rules.
uncountable
The study of a supersensual realm or of phenomena which transcend the physical world.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Formality
- Technical
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The branch of philosophy which studies fundamental principles intended to describe or explain all that is, and which are not themselves explained by anything more fundamental; the study of first principles; the study of being insofar as it is being (Latin: ens in quantum ens).
Used this way, metaphysics is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a scientific use: it names something precisely within a field of study, so it appears in research and teaching more than in conversation.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Science
- Academic writing
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Related to the philosophical study of being and knowing.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.