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

However, given all the money that CEO Mark Zuckerberg has invested into AR and VR technology through his metaverse ambitions, any move the company makes in hardware is worth watching over the long term. —Jeff Marks, CNBC, 8 Sep. 2025

Kuki, supposedly eighteen years old and from the metaverse, resembles an airbrushed Scandinavian Airlines flight attendant. —Patricia Marx, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025

Avatar fashion is becoming the lingua franca of the metaverse, and nowhere is this clearer than on Roblox, where players spend heavily to shape their digital identities. —Charlie Fink, Forbes.com, 26 Aug. 2025

And the stakes may be especially high for Zuckerberg, who wants Meta to be more than just a social media company and has refocused it on AI after an unsuccessful pivot to the metaverse. —Cnn.com Wire Service, Mercury News, 13 Aug. 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