English

Alternative forms

• meta-knowledge

Noun

metaknowledge ‎(usually uncountable, plural metaknowledges)

1. (philosophy) Knowledge about knowledge itself.
   • 2005, Nicholas Rescher, Epistemic Logic: A Survey of the Logic of Knowledge, ISBN 9780822961307, p. 20 (Google preview):

     Metaknowledge is knowledge about knowledge. . . . The hallmark of metaknowledge is its being a matter of knowing propositions in which one K[nowledge]-operator occurs within the scope of another. Knowledge about someone's ignorance thus counts as metaknowledge.

2. (psychology, artificial intelligence) Knowledge about types, domains, functions, or preconditions of knowledge.
   • 1996, Reiko Hayashi, Cognition, Empathy & Interaction (Advances in Discourse Processes, Vol 54), ISBN 9781567502206, p. 22 (Google preview):

     The acts of monitoring, hypothesizing, and verifying are internal work which require a person's metaknowledge or knowledge concerning what kind of knowledge is needed and how that knowledge is appropriately used in the situation.

   • 2004, Andy Clark, Natural-Born Cyborgs: Minds, Technologies, and the Future of Human Intelligence, ISBN 9780195177510, p. 67 (Google preview):

     Meta-knowledge is knowledge about how to acquire and exploit information, rather than basic knowledge about the world.