The creation of a systematically ordered data structure that enhances exchange of information between computers and scientists. Ontologies enable the definition and sharing of domain-specific vocabularies.
In informatics an "ontology" is an organized collection of concepts.
The science of being in its most general aspects.
Questions of existence. Do mathematical objects exist? If so, in what sense? If not, why do we talk about them
a model of the world; an ontology defines the ways in which concepts are related, their relative significance, and their dependencies. The most significant relationship between concepts in the ontology is that of "hyponym/hypernymy" which determines if a concept belongs to the class defined by another concept.
A partial specification of a conceptual vocabulary to be used for formulating knowledge-level theories about a domain of discourse. The fundamental role of an ontology is to support knowledge sharing and reuse.
a classification methodology defines a common vocabulary in a structured way for useful information sharing
a classification scheme with more semantics added
a classification system for concepts and their underlying connections within a specific domain of knowledge
a collection of concepts or terms of a given domain of knowledge/area of existence and semantics describing these concepts and the relationships between the concepts
a collection of definitions that describe computer-usable concepts (and either introduce the vocabulary of terms that rely on them) in the perspective of representing a domain, i
a collection of domain concepts and their relationships
a collection of terms and formulas designed to facilitate interoperation among information systems (web sites)
a commitment to (or a formal declaration of) what exists in any particular task domain
a comprehensive set of concepts that describe a particular domain, together with the definition of the concepts and the relationships between the concepts
a conceptual framework for defining the basic classes of entities in some domain of knowledge, the relationships these entities have to each other, and the organization of concepts in terms of higher-level concepts, typically taxonomic in nature
a conceptual model of the concepts in a domain of interest
a controlled vocabulary, and clear, simple relationships among its terms Dictionaries give relationships among terms
a description (like a formal specification of a program) of concepts and relationships that can exist for an agent or a community of agents
a description of all that exists for the domain that it covers
a description of knowledge about a subject using a controlled vocabulary of terms and defined relationships between those terms
a description of the concepts and inter-concept relationships of some problem domain
a description of the kinds of things, both physical and conceptual, that make up a given domain and the relationships among them as represented by the terminology in that domain
a description of the types of objects that we think about when we make decisions and solve problems in a domain of interest
a document that describes a vocabulary of terms for communication between (human and) automated agents
a domain metamodel that will be used by the different models related to that particular domain
a domain of knowledge structured through formal rules so that it can be interpreted and used by computers
a domain vocabulary complete with a set of precise definitions, or axioms, that constrain the meanings of the terms in that vocabulary sufficiently to enable consistent interpretation of data
a explicit knowledge level specification of a conceptualization, (
a file that formally defines relations among terms, for example, a taxonomy and set of inference rules
a formal description of a set of concepts and their relationships to each other
a formal description of concepts and relationships among them
a formal description of entities and their properties for a given domain
a formal description of entities and their properties, relationships, constraints, behaviours
a formal description of objects and their interrelationships
a formal description of the entities within a given domain, the properties they possess, the relationships they stand in, the constraints they are subject to, and the patterns of behavior they exhibit
a formal description of the semantics of a representation system, not only what a specific term means, but what its behavior is in the world described
a formal explicit description of concepts or classes in a domain of discourse, properties of each class describing various features and attributes of the classes, and restrictions on property values
a formal, explicit representation of the conceptual structure of a field of knowledge
a formal, explicit specification of a shared conceptualization " proposed by T
a formalization of how individuals understand the world and the way people see things, Fonseca said
a formalization of someone's conceptual understanding of a domain
a formally specified set of vocabulary definitions
a formal method of capturing knowledge about some domain of interest
a formal model of the kinds of concepts and objects that appear in the real world, together with the relationships between them
a formal representation of knowledge about area of interest
a 'formal specification of a conceptualization' and thus, provides a basis for semantics-based processing of XML documents
a formal specification of the categories of things that exist or may exist in some domain
a formal way to organize knowledge and terms
a hierarchically organized complex data structure that provides a context for the lexical meaning of concepts
a hierarchically structured set of terms for describing a domain that can be used as a skeletal foundation for a knowledge base
a list of formal terms, i
a logical theory accounting for the intended meaning of a formal vocabulary, i
a long-lived conceptual model that can be used in multiple applications, providing good opportunities for reuse and interoperability
a machine-readable representation of a domain's terminology and the relationships among the terms in the domain
a model of entity and relationship in a specific domain or universe of discourse (UoD)
a network of concepts, relationships, and constraints that provide context for data and information as well as processes
an explicit formal specification of the terms in the domain and relationships among them
an explicit, partial account of a conceptualization
an explicit, partial specification of a conceptualization that is expressible as a meta-level viewpoint on a set of possible domain theories for the purpose of modular design, redesign and reuse of knowledge-intensive system components
an explicit representation of a conceptualization
an explicit specification of a conceptualisation
a representation of a shared conceptualization of a domain
a rule-based grouping of some portion of a taxonomy
a set of concepts, axioms, and relationships that describe a domain of interest
a set of distinctions, narratives, and social practices that allow us to observe, act, and coordinate in a specific domain of life
a set of formal definitions of concepts and things in some domain
a set of standard concepts, terms and definitions which are agreed upon within a particular community
a set of structured terms that describes some domain or topic
a set of terms and formal definitions
a shared and common understanding of some domain that can be communicated across people and computers
a system that contains terms, the definitions of those terms, and the specification of relationships among those terms
a taxonomy with a college education
a theory of a particular domain or sphere of knowledge, describing the kinds of entity involved in it and the relationships that can hold among different entities
a way to capture domain knowledge so that it can be maintained in a collaborative fashion and shared universally inside and out of an organization
"Ontologies are being developed as specific concept models by the Knowledge Management community. They can represent complex relationships between objects, and include the rules and axioms missing from semantic networks. Ontologies that describe knowledge in a specific area are often connected with systems for data mining and knowledge management". "NKOS Taxonomy of Knowledge Organization Sources/Systems" Draft, July 31, 2000. Online. Available at http://nkos.slis.kent.edu/KOS_taxonomy.htm
A common set of terms (and their relationships) used to describe and represent knowledge within a domain (e.g. education, chemistry, and cars). Ontologies can be used by automated tools to power advanced services such as more accurate Web search, intelligent software agents and knowledge management. Ontology has also been referred to as a 'concept thesaurus'. (See references for more information.)
a formal vocabulary of relevant concepts in a domain, the properties that relate them and perhaps also the rules that govern the functioning of that domain. A more detailed definition of what an ontology is can be found in the "state-of-the-art" article.
a formal description of objects and their relationships
A formal and rigorous conceptual schema about a domain that is typically represented as a hierarchical structure containing all the relevant entities and their relationships and rules within that domain.
a vocabulary of terms and some specification of their meaning. RFLC has used a loosely constructed ontology to provide keywords to be attached to the knowledge in the system.
Ontology is the set of base concepts and identifying terminology by which active practitioners in a field (domain) describe their products and processes.
The set of concepts understood in a knowledge base. A formal ontology specifies a way of constructing a knowledge base about some part of the world. An ontology thus contains a set of allowed concepts, and rules which define the allowable relationships between concepts. See also: Knowledge-base, Language.
specification of a conceptualisation of a knowledge domain. An ontology is a controlled vocabulary that describes objects and the relations between them in a formal way, and has a grammar for using the vocabulary terms to express something meaningful within a specified domain of interest. The vocabulary is used to make queries and assertions. Ontological commitments are agreements to use the vocabulary in a consistent way for knowledge sharing. Ontologies can include glossaries, taxonomies and thesauri, but normally have greater expressivity and stricter rules than these tools. A formal ontology is a controlled vocabulary expressed in an ontology representation language.
in Philosophy, the study or 'science' of Being, and Knowing about 'Being'. This includes discussions and treatises on consciousness of existence, whether 'existence preceeds essence' or vice versa, and other concepts of 'self-in-the-world' or 'being-in-the-world'
A theory concerning the kinds of entitites and specifically the kinds of abstract entities that are to be admitted to a language system.
Originally a term for the branch of philosophy concerned with defining what exists, this has been appropriated by the technical world to mean a conceptual representation of the entities, meanings, and relationships within a specific domain of knowledge. See RDF, W3C, Metadata, OIL, Semantic Web, DAML, and OWL.
A shared vocabulary; an explicit specification using a formal and declarative representation for a particular topic. An ontology defines a shared understanding of a view of a domain, often describing entities, attributes, and relationships. An ontology will typically include classes, relations, facts, formal definitions, and informal descriptions (to aid people in understanding it). An effective ontology supports computational processes as well as a shared vocabulary between software and people.
A Yahoo-like hierarchy of relationships and a glossary used as a standardization device to describe goods and services and to facilitate commerce in a Net market. (See normalize.)
A system of concepts and relationships that can be used to encode a piece of knowledge
An explicit formal specification of how to represent objects, concepts and other entities that are assumed to exist in some area of interest and the relationships those hold among them.
A structured representation of the types of entities and relations existing in a given domain that is designed to support exchange and reuse of data and information. Ontologies are used in biomedical informatics to support automatic retrieval and exchange of data across disciplinary boundaries.
A common vocabulary for describing the concepts that exist in an area of knowledge and the relationships that exist between them. An ontology allows for a more detailed specification of the relationships in a domain than is the case with a thesaurus or taxonomy. The resulting vocabulary can be used by computers as well as understood by humans.
The capstone of the Semantic Web. XML describes what the data is. RDF explains what the XML tag means in our context. An Ontology describes how all the pieces fit together.
ontologie Used in philosophy for centuries, ontology is the study of the nature and relation of being. The term is now used in the fields of information science and artificial intelligence to mean the hierarchical structuring of knowledge using a set of concepts that are specified in order to create an agreed-upon vocabulary for exchanging information. Source: Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) – Glossary
In both computer science and information science, an ontology is a data model that represents a set of concepts within a domain and the relationships between those concepts. It is used to reason about the objects within that domain.
