metaverse

noun

meta·​verse ˈme-tə-ˌvərs 

plural metaverses

1

computing : a persistent virtual (see virtual sense 2) environment that allows access to and interoperability of multiple individual virtual realities

To its proponents, the metaverse is the natural evolution of the internet. They envisage a sprawling network of interconnected virtual worlds for such diverse activities as gaming, watching live entertainment, … and collaborating on design projects.

—Edd Gent

also : any of the individual virtual environments that make up a metaverse

Metaverses are immersive three-dimensional virtual worlds in which people interact as avatars with each other and with software agents, using the metaphor of the real world but without its physical limitations.

—Alanah Davis et al.

2

cosmology : the hypothetical combination of all co-existing or sequentially existing universes compare multiverse

Examples of metaverse in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In Future Technologies That Create Value NFTs and the metaverse didn’t feature among the popular crypto narratives of 2024 in any dimension including mindshare. —Lawrence Wintermeyer, Forbes.com, 3 Apr. 2025

Quantum computing could change that by making the metaverse faster, more secure, and smarter. —Dr. Diane Hamilton, Forbes, 17 Mar. 2025

Over the last half-decade, it’s made an aggressive push into artificial intelligence and the metaverse to get ahead of whatever the next big thing may be – and to escape Facebook’s shadow. —Lisa Eadicicco, CNN, 17 Feb. 2025

Afterward, Meta shares hit a record, indicating that investors appear more tolerant of the company’s heavy spending as long as it is related to AI and not the still-nascent metaverse. —Jonathan Vanian, CNBC, 29 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

meta- + -verse (in universe)

First Known Use

1992, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for metaverse

• reimburse
• universe
• adverse
• averse
• coerce
• disburse
• disperse
• diverse
• immerse
• inverse
• obverse
• perverse

Kids Definition

metaverse

noun

meta·​verse

ˈmet-ə-ˌvərs

1

: a persistent virtual environment that allows access to and interaction between multiple individual virtual realities

also : any of the individual virtual environments that make up a metaverse

2

: the hypothetical combination of all co-existing or sequentially existing universes