metaphysics

UK: /ˌmɛtəˈfɪzɪks/ US: /ˌmɛtəˈfɪzɪks/ ,(met′ə fiz′iks)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

met•a•phys•ics /ˌmɛtəˈfɪzɪks/   n. [uncountable* used with a singular verb]

1. Philosophy the branch of philosophy that deals with questions of knowledge and the existence of the world:
   Metaphysics was influenced greatly by Einstein's theories.

See -phys-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

met•a•phys•ics  (met′ə fiz′iks), n. (used with a sing. v.)

1. Philosophy the branch of philosophy that treats of first principles, includes ontology and cosmology, and is intimately connected with epistemology.
2. Philosophy philosophy, esp. in its more abstruse branches.
3. Philosophy the underlying theoretical principles of a subject or field of inquiry.
4. Philosophy (cap., 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.

• 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
• Medieval Latin metaphysica
• 1560–70

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

metaphysics / ˌmɛtəˈfɪzɪks/ noun (functioning as singular)

1. the branch of philosophy that deals with first principles, esp of being and knowing
2. the philosophical study of the nature of reality, concerned with such questions as the existence of God, the external world, etc
3. (popularly) abstract or subtle discussion or reasoning

Etymology: 16th Century: 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

metaphysician / ˌmɛtəfɪˈzɪʃən/, metaphysicist / ˌmɛtəˈfɪzɪsɪst/ noun