Even though, "Men create gods after their own image."
— Xenophanes, c. 510 BCE
"All things flow, and even the gods must bend to the river of change."
— Heraclitus, c. 500 BCE
The term ontology has its roots in philosophy and computer science, with related but distinct meanings: Philosophy: In philosophy, ontology is the study of being or existence. It examines the nature, structure, and categories of reality, exploring fundamental questions such as: What exists? What does it mean for something to exist? How are entities and their properties related? Ontology is a core branch of metaphysics and often involves classifying and organizing concepts like objects, properties, and relationships. Computer Science and Information Science: In these fields, ontology refers to a structured framework for organizing information. Specifically, it is: A formal representation of knowledge within a domain, consisting of entities (or "classes") and their relationships. Often used in artificial intelligence, data modeling, and semantic web applications to enable machines to understand and process complex concepts and their interrelations. Examples include: Defining how entities in biology, like "gene" or "protein," relate. Structuring the relationships in a database or AI system to represent knowledge logically. Etymology: The word originates from the Greek words: