Etymology

pataphysics

P3A1T1A1P3H4Y4S1I1C3S1

Today it means: An absurdist philosophy or pseudoscience studying things "beyond" metaphysics. Full definition →

French pataphysique
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. French · borrowed frompataphysique
  2. English todaypataphysics

Borrowed from French pataphysique, where it was coined by author Alfred Jarry from a pun deriving from the Ancient Greek title of a work by Aristotle; see pataphysique for more.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.