A.Word.A.Day --ontology

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Dec 17, 2010

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Words made with combining forms

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exogamy
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tautology
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ontology

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

ontology

PRONUNCIATION:

(on-TOL-uh-jee)

MEANING:

noun: The philosophical study of existence and the nature of being.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek onto- (being) + -logy (study). First recorded use: 1663.

NOTES:

In the context of computer and information sciences, ontology is the formal representation of knowledge in a domain, for example, by defining classes, their attributes, and relationships.

USAGE:

"But there's still that pesky problem of ontology. 'He does exist and he doesn't really exist. What does that mean?'"
Christy Corp-Minamiji; Interview: Wandering Through Time with Award Winning Author Charles Yu; Seattle Post-Intelligencer; Nov 15, 2010.

See more usage examples of ontology in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

To want to meet an author because you like his books is as ridiculous as wanting to meet the goose because you like pate de foie gras. -Arthur Koestler, author (1905-1983)

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