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

The cuts hit Meta’s Reality Labs division, where employees work on the metaverse, digital spaces where people socialize, work and learn. —Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2026

The company already has been streamlining Reality Labs, its subsidiary focused on developing products and experiences for the metaverse. —Dade Hayes, Deadline, 23 Apr. 2026

But with the metaverse's failure, CEO Mark Zuckerberg began pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into AI. —Noe Padilla, USA Today, 23 Apr. 2026

Meta laid off a chunk of its hardware division responsible for headsets and discontinued a key metaverse product called Horizon Worlds for people to meet up virtually. —Bloomberg, Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2026

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