Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

ontic

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.30 in modern English

Syllables: on-tic
IPA

7

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

adj

Pertaining to being, as opposed to pertaining to a theory of it (which would be ontological).

Example Sentences

"My descriptions are ontical—addressing the world we inhabit, the what and where and how and why of objects therein; my questions are not ontological in the sense of struggling (vainly) to answer the question of the being of things tout court."

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ὄν (ón, “being, existing, essence”) (stem ὄντ- (ónt-)) + -ic.

Origin

Source language: Ancient Greek

Word Breakdown

Root: ὄν
Suffix: ic

Inflected Forms

more ontic (comparative) most ontic (superlative)

Derived Forms

ontically onticity

Frequently Paired Words

ontological ontologist ontology

Questions

What does ontic mean?: Ontological.
Where does ontic come from?: It is traced to Ancient Greek.

How to pronounce ontic

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “ontic”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
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Repeat and practice — Say “ontic” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.