Metaphysics

How to spell metaphysics

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce metaphysics

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does metaphysics mean?

1. nounThe branch of philosophy that examines the fundamental nature of reality, existence, and being.

Metaphysics in a sentence

• Her thesis on metaphysics explored what it means for something to exist.

• The professor taught both logic and metaphysics in the spring term.

Where does metaphysics come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The word comes from the Greek phrase 'ta meta ta physika', literally 'the things after the physics'. It was not coined by Aristotle himself but by later editors who arranged his writings: the treatises that came after his books on nature (the 'Physics') were grouped together and labelled simply as 'the ones after the physics'. Over time readers reinterpreted that accidental ordering as describing a subject that goes 'beyond' the physical world, dealing with being, existence, and first principles. The term passed through Medieval Latin as 'metaphysica' and entered English in the 1300s and 1400s. The spelling trap lives in the unstressed middle: the joint between 'meta' and 'physics' hides a schwa, and the Greek 'ph' for the /f/ sound catches many writers who reach for a simple 'f'.

How the word is built

• meta- (after, beyond)
• physic (from Greek physika: natural things)
• -s (forming the name of a field of study)