Ontology
Definition
An ontology describes concepts and their relationships within a domain of knowledge.
An explicit description of concepts, relationships, and possibly rules of a knowledge domain.
Simply explained
An ordered concept network shows what things exist and how they are related.
Why it matters in practice
An ontology creates common concepts and relationships for a knowledge domain. This facilitates consistent search and linking of operational information.
Example from business
Products, components, types of faults, and relationships are uniformly modeled for search and integration.
Limits and pitfalls
- Equating ontology with taxonomy or database schema and forgetting maintenance responsibility.
Origin & history
Ontologies originate from philosophy and knowledge representation; RDF and OWL made them machine-readable in the Semantic Web.
Use in mid-sized companies
- Possible example: Products, components, types of faults, and relationships are uniformly modeled for search and integration.
Frequently asked questions
What does ontology mean?
An explicit description of concepts, relationships, and possibly rules of a knowledge domain.
Which mistakes should be avoided?
Equating ontology with taxonomy or database schema and forgetting maintenance responsibility.
Sources
Source checked on 10.10.2026. Editorial application examples are hypothetical; no evidence of real customer results.
Editorially reviewed on: