Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The French absurdist concept of a philosophy or science dedicated to studying what lies beyond the realm of metaphysics, intended as a parody of the methods and theories of modern science and often expressed in nonsensical language.
Wiktionary
- n. An absurdist philosophy or pseudoscience studying things "beyond" metaphysics
Etymologies
- French pataphysique, from Ancient Greek τά ἐπί τά μεταφυσικά, humorous alteration of the title of the work "Metaphysics" by Aristotle (Wiktionary)
- French pataphysique, alteration of Greek ta epi ta metaphusika, the (works) after the metaphysics (pseudo-title of a work by Aristotle modeled on ta meta ta phusika, the (works) after the Physics, Aristotle's Metaphysics) : epi, after; see epi- + metaphusika, metaphysics; see metaphysics. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“* Jarry called it 'pataphysics, but I'm dropping his apostrophe here cause pataphysics is poncy enough in its own right without making it more so.”
“But, going one step further with TOKYO! there is pataphysics, which is the science of imaginary solutions — something none of us can deny participating in.”
“On the back cover of this Davenport collection I came across the term "pataphysics" * for the first time, in a blurb describing Davenport as one of the world's foremost pataphysicians.”
“Just wondering, though - you gave a bunch of texts using 'pataphysics' in some way, and then anticipated what I was thinking with the comment on pataphysics vs. postmodernism - what would you consider an explicitly postmodern text using pataphysics, as opposed to a modernist like Davenport?”
“French german guest guestreader horror indian irish italian jewish joyce krampf latin american new york new zealander pataphysics peruvian playwright poet polish russian satire scandinavian scifi south american southern soviet spanish spooky student swedish women wonderful youth”
“Like Jarry's pataphysics, Baudrillard's universe is ruled by surprise, reversal, hallucination, blasphemy, obscenity, and a desire to shock and outrage.”
“Thus, it is difficult to decide whether Baudrillard is best read as science fiction and pataphysics, or as philosophy, social theory, and cultural metaphysics, and whether his post-1970s work should be read under the sign of truth or fiction.”
“In these works, Baudrillard seems to be taking his theory into the realm of metaphysics, but it is a specific type of metaphysics deeply inspired by the pataphysics developed by Alfred Jarry.”
“Definition: pataphysics is the science of imaginary solutions, which symbolically attributes the properties of objects, described by their virtuality, to their lineaments (Jarry 1963: 131).”
“SAY NO TO THE VACCINE by trillion (feat. pataphysics & nRt) Jane's Blog - birdflu666. wordpress.com Official documents of evidence and charges can be viewed and downloaded here: Evidence of the Use of Pandemic Flu to Depopulate USA - www. scribd.com”
WN.com - Articles related to UN sanctions bind Russia on Iran missiles: Report
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘pataphysics’.
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phrontistery - p
from phrontistery.info
pabouche, pabulous, pabulum, pacable, pace, pachydermia, pachyglossal, pachymeter, pachynsis, paciferous, pacificate, pactolian and 1766 more...
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Ballardian
All things descriptive from JG
Ballardoperation mindfuck, pataphysics, wahrheitssensible..., polymorphism, postprandial, covalent, stygian, lucus a non lucendo, kafkaesque, leitmotif, fugacious, ablate and 77 more...
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Most Obscure Words
acatalectic, acosmism, acuate, acuminate, adscititious, adytum, akratisma, alieniloquy, allelomorph, allochiria, allodium, alnage and 620 more...
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billfence's Words
quotidian, flux, sawbuck, horsefeathers, chalcedony, harp, no, fox, tennis, badminton, flue, charm and 186 more...
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deidionysus's list
Words, words, words!
cartesian, shavian, dithyramb, dreadnaught, lea, adamantine, titanomachy, theomachy, aethereal, ambrosia, ambrosial, aether and 183 more...
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artoparts's Words
illation, finite, edify, abide, abrade, vouch, amiss, vociferate, perusing, techantiquery, rigamarole, holon and 615 more...
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C. S. Bird – Grandiloquent Dictionary
All the words from the Grandiloquent Dictionary.
946 of these 2700 words do not yield any results in six different dictionaries, hence many of them might be misspellings.
More in...abacinate, abcedarian, abderian, ablegate, abligurition, ablutophobia, abnormous, acarophobia, acathasia, accipitrine, accidia, accubitus and 2690 more...
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Lessons of Wordie / Wordnik
Words and concepts I learned on Wordie, or happened upon as I roamed through dictionaries and websites seeking ammunition.
usquebaugh, baugh, plunderbunny, plinthiform, hendiatris, buckjumper, peripetia, trenchmore, antifogmatic, felon, whitlow, paronychia and 152 more...
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✖ LOCUTIONS
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lambda, coital, fuggedaboutit, altrap, HUGO, Synergy, Hieroglyphics, Patrician, distraught, Ethos, Devadasi, incarceration and 254 more...
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boychoir's Words
tantamount, nom de guerre, absurd, dolt, transmute, dichotomy, dandy, schadenfreude, ennui, binary, analog, obfuscate and 93 more...
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Dewitful
visions of witfulness and vision - a wise guise
revision, advisor, ideal, witty, witness, veda, druid, penguin, hadal, idea, story, history and 269 more...
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nuwerdna's Words
smegma, defenestration, nubile, zeitgeist, stochastic, ergodic, stability, maudlin, recursion, aversion, agent, set and 239 more...
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rememberers
prolix, ageusia, animadversion, anodyne, antic, arabesque, beadle, brachymetropia, colophon, desquamation, diaphoresis, diegesis and 3250 more...
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Nihilarity
Absurdity, dark art, radicalism, anger, tragic irony, and nothingness. Tee-hee!
nihilism, dada, futurism, rayonism, postmodernity, deconstruction, surrealism, existentialism, reductio ad absurdum, discordianism, operation mindfuck, amorality and 127 more...
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gleaned words
found words, that haven't found their proper place yet.
juggernaut, panopticon, superfluous, verfremdung, aleatory, googlewhack, palimpsest, petrosomatoglyph, epibiont, solipsism, zugzwang, ubiquitous and 500 more...
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Ridicule
Parody, satire, caricature.
batrachomyomachy, amphigory, pataphysics, filk, spoof, send-up, takeoff, piss-take, squib, satire, lampoon, pasquinade and 12 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for pataphysics.
mollusque See 'pataphysics. Dec 14, 2008
asativum Excellent! Glad to hear it, and another fine case of Wordiesleuthing. (Oh, oh, oh, oh...) May 12, 2008
gangerh Hey, Asativum, you're right. I've done some pataphysical research. My lyrics book has paraphysical and I found another online. I also found a couple of metaphysical online. So went to the sheet music which says pataphysical and played the track which sings pataphysical. . . science in the home, late night all alone with a test-tube oh oh, oh oh. May 12, 2008
asativum I'm pretty sure Joan studied pataphysical science in the home, oh, oh, oh. May 11, 2008
vanishedone This would be a helpful and informative link if the writing were clearer. May 11, 2008
gangerh Asativum, I thought she was studying paraphysics. Is that the same thing? Or is my imagination playing absurd tricks with me. Or maybe I'm just being a bit thick and missing some innuendo. May 11, 2008
asativum What Joan studied in her home before an unfortunate encounter with Maxwell Edison. May 11, 2008
mollusque The science of imaginary solutions; the philosophy of the absurd. May 11, 2008