/met'euh fiz"iks/ , n. ( used with a sing. v. )
1. the branch of philosophy that treats of first principles, includes ontology and cosmology, and is intimately connected with epistemology.
2. philosophy, esp. in its more abstruse branches.
3. the underlying theoretical principles of a subject or field of inquiry.
4. ( 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.
[ 1560-70; metaphysica tà ) metaphysiká (neut. pl.), Gk tà metà tà physiká the (works) after the Physics; with reference to the arrangement of Aristotle's writings ]