Definition of "ontology" []

• The branch of metaphysics that deals with the nature of being. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Often, the term ontology is used to cover both ABox and TBox statements (which, I argue, only makes the understanding of the 'ontology' concept more difficult)."
• "So, what does all of this have to do with my starting diatribe about the term ontology?"
• "The term "metaphysics" (q.v.) was given a wider extension by Wolff, who divided "real philosophy" into general metaphysics, which he called ontology, and special, under which he included cosmology, psychology, and theodicy."