What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Shanghai vs Metaphysics - What's the difference?

shanghai | metaphysics |

As a proper noun shanghai

is shanghai.

As a noun metaphysics is

(philosophy|uncountable) the branch of philosophy which studies fundamental principles intended to describe or explain all that is, and which are not themselves explained by anything more fundamental; the study of first principles; the study of being insofar as it is being (ens in quantum ens ).

shanghai

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) , with reference to the former practice of forcibly crewing ships heading for the Orient.

Verb

(en verb)
  • To force or trick (someone) into joining a ship which is lacking a full crew.
  • * 1999 June 24, ‘The Resurrection of Tom Waits’, in Rolling Stone'', quoted in ''Innocent When You Dream , Orion (2006), page 256,
    • It was the strangest galley: the sounds, the steam, he's screaming at his coworkers. I felt like I'd been shanghaied .
  • To abduct or coerce.
  • * 1974 September 30, ‘ Final Report on the Activities of the Children of God',
    • Oftentimes the approach is to shanghai an unsuspecting victim.
  • To commandeer; appropriate; hijack
    • Let's see if we can shanghai a room for a couple of hours.
    Synonyms
    * press-gang

    Etymology 2

    From Scottish (m), from (etyl) (m), influenced by the Chinese city.Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, by Eric Partridge, 2006, p. 613

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A slingshot.
  • *1985 , (Peter Carey), Illywhacker , Faber and Faber 2003, p. 206:
  • *:They scrounged around the camp […] and held out their filthy wings to the feeble sun, making themselves an easy target for Charles's shanghai .

    • References

    metaphysics

    English

    (wikipedia metaphysics)

    Noun

  • (philosophy, uncountable) The branch of philosophy which studies fundamental principles intended to describe or explain all that is, and which are not themselves explained by anything more fundamental; the study of first principles; the study of being insofar as it is being (ens in quantum ens ).
    • Philosophers sometimes say that metaphysics is the study of the ultimate nature of the universe.
  • (philosophy, countable) The view or theory of a particular philosopher or school of thinkers concerning the first principles which describe or explain all that is.
    • The metaphysics of Thomas Aquinas holds that all real beings have both essence and existence.
    In Aristotelian metaphysics physical objects have both form and matter.
    In his ''Pensées'', Pascal mentioned some first principles recognized within his metaphysics : space, time, motion, and number.
  • (uncountable, by extension from the philosophical sense) Any fundamental principles or rules.
  • * 1990 Jan. 1, Lance Morrow, " Gorbachev: The Unlikely Patron of Change," Time :
    • The metaphysics of global power has changed. Markets are now more valuable than territory.
  • (uncountable) The study of a supersensual realm or of phenomena which transcend the physical world.
    • I have a collection of books on metaphysics , covering astral projection, reincarnation, and communication with spirits.
  • (uncountable) Displeasingly abstruse, complex material on any subject.
    • This political polemic strikes me as a protracted piece of overwrought, fog shrouded metaphysics !
  • (countable) Plural of countable senses of metaphysic.

    • Meronyms

    * ontology

    Derived terms

    * metaphysical * metaphysician * metaphysicist

    Related terms

    * physics