Entity

An Entity is a thing (in the universe) that can be identified by its distinct properties (such as space time location).

• AKA: Object, Instance.
• Context:
  • It can (often) have an Entity Property (e.g., mass, location, or type).
  • It can (typically) possess Unique Identifiers for entity recognition.
  • It can (typically) maintain State Information throughout its existence period.
  • It can (typically) exhibit Behavioral Patterns in interaction contexts.
  • It can (typically) participate in Entity Relationships with other entitys.
  • ...
  • It can range from being a Physical Entity (e.g., a rock or a person) to being an Abstract Entity (e.g., a mathematical concept, a legal construct, or a Digital Twin).
  • It can range from being a Static Entity (e.g., a constant object) to being a Dynamic Entity (e.g., a process or event that changes over time).
  • It can range from being an Atomic Entity (e.g., a single atom) to being a Composite Entity (such as a system made up of interacting parts).
  • It can range from being a Persistent Entity (e.g., a mountain that remains over time) to being a Transitory Entity (e.g., a sound that exists only momentarily).
  • It can range from being a Referent Entity (be referenced in communication) to being a Referencing Entity (such as a word that points to another entity).
  • It can range from being a Named Entity (e.g., "Paris," "Albert Einstein") to being an Unnamed Entity (e.g., an unnamed animal in a forest).
  • It can range from being a Composite Entity (e.g., a complex system with many sub-entities) to being a Simple Entity (e.g., an isolated object).
  • It can range from being a Domain-Specific Entity (e.g., a legal entity or a biological species) to being a General Entity with broad applicability.
  • It can range from being an Observable Entity to being an Inferred Entity, depending on its detection method.
  • It can range from being a Concrete Entity to being an Abstract Entity, depending on its manifestation form.
  • ...
  • It can experience Temporal Events throughout its entity lifecycle, ranging from Entity Creation Events to Entity Termination Events, with each temporal event potentially altering its entity state, property values, and relationship network.
  • It can be associated with an Entity Pattern.
  • It can be in a Causal Relation with another Entity (e.g., causing an effect or being influenced by another).
  • It can participate in Relational Structures (e.g., being a Referent Entity in communication or a Causal Entity influencing or being influenced by another).
  • It can be represented in a Digital Environment (e.g., as a Digital Twin or a Virtual Character).
  • It can be an Instance of a Concept Class (e.g., a particular book as an instance of the "book" class).
  • It can have Temporal Characteristics defining its lifecycle states.
  • It can exhibit Entity Behaviors through interaction patterns.
  • It can maintain Entity Boundarys within its operational context.
  • It can possess Entity Attributions for identity management.
  • It can support Entity Operations through functional interfaces.
  • ...
• Examples:
  • Concrete Entity Types, such as:
    • Physical Entities, such as:
      • Living Organisms, such as:
        • Persons (e.g., Aristotle).
        • Horses (e.g., Bucephalus).
        • Cellular Organisms (e.g., a single E. coli bacterium).
      • Inanimate Physical Objects, such as:
        • Books (e.g., the copy of "The Republic" that sat in Aristotle's library).
        • Buildings (e.g., The Eiffel Tower).
        • Vehicles (e.g., a Tesla Model S).
        • Natural Structures (e.g., Mount Everest).
      • Composite Physical Entities, such as:
        • Citys (e.g., Paris).
        • Manufacturing Plants (e.g., a Ford automotive factory).
        • Ecosystems (e.g., Amazon Rainforest).
        • Solar Systems (e.g., Alpha Centauri).
      • Images, such as The Mona Lisa hanging in The Louvre.
    • Digital Entities, such as:
      • Digital Contents, such as:
        • Files on a computer system (e.g., a PDF document or digital image).
        • Websites (e.g., Wikipedia.org).
        • Digital Assets (e.g., cryptocurrency token).
      • Digital Agents, such as:
        • Virtual Characters in a video game (e.g., an avatar in World of Warcraft).
        • Software Agents (e.g., web crawler).
  • Abstract Entity Types, such as:
    • Conceptual Entities, such as:
      • Concept Classes (e.g., people, horses, books).
      • Mathematical Concepts (e.g., the number pi or a vector space).
      • Time Periods (e.g., February 20, 2007).
    • Semantic Entities, such as:
      • Knowledge Structures, such as:
        • Ontology Concepts in a Knowledge Representation System (e.g., the Person concept in the FOAF Ontology).
        • Knowledge Graph Nodes (e.g., entity representation).
      • Linguistic Elements, such as:
        • Terms in a thesaurus (e.g., synonym).
        • Semantic Annotations for a web resource.
    • Legal Entities, such as:
      • Corporations (e.g., Apple Inc.).
      • Contracts (e.g., lease agreement).
      • Intellectual Property Rights (e.g., patent).
    • Hypothetical Entities, such as:
      • Theoretical Constructs (e.g., Schrödinger's cat).
      • Scientific Models (e.g., The Standard Model of Particle Physics).
      • Thought Experiments (e.g., Maxwell's demon).
  • Event Entity Types, such as:
    • Temporal Events, such as:
      • Historical Events (e.g., The signing of the Declaration of Independence).
      • Natural Phenomena (e.g., A solar eclipse).
      • Life Events (e.g., graduation ceremony).
    • Process Events, such as:
      • Process Instances during execution.
      • Transactions in financial systems.
      • Sessions in computing environments.
    • Domain Events, such as:
      • Sporting Events (e.g., The 2020 Olympics).
      • Business Events (e.g., company merger).
    • Persistent Records, such as:
      • Relational Database Tables that retain data over time.
      • Archives maintaining historical records.
      • Bibliographic Entities (e.g., a citation for an academic paper).
  • Organizational Entity Types, such as:
  • ...
• Counter-Examples:
  • A Relation (e.g., "go(subject, object)" or "eat(subject, object)") that defines interactions between entities but is not itself an independent entity.
  • A Property (e.g., "color," "size") that is a characteristic of an entity but does not exist as an entity in itself.
  • A Function or Mathematical Operation, such as "f(x) = x^2" that describes a relation but lacks independent existence.
  • A Pure Abstract Concept without any instance manifestation.
  • A Theoretical Impossibility that cannot exist within known physical laws.
• See: Concept Class, Named Entity, Event, Abstraction, Physical Entity, Digital Entity, Legal Fiction, Ontology Concept, Entity Lifecycle, Entity Management, Entity Framework.

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References

2014

• (Wikipedia, 2014) ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entity Retrieved:2014-11-4.
  • An entity is something that exists in itself, actually or hypothetically. It need not be of material existence. In particular, abstractions and legal fictions are usually regarded as entities. In general, there is also no presumption that an entity is animate.

    Sometimes, the word entity is used in a general sense of a being, whether or not the referent has material existence, e.g., is often referred to as an entity with no corporeal form (non-physical entity), such as a language. It is also often used to refer to ghosts and other spirits.

    The word entitative is the adjective form of the noun entity. Something that is entitative is "considered as pure entity; abstracted from all circumstances", that is, regarded as entity alone, apart from attendant circumstances.

2009

• WordNet.
  • that which is perceived or known or inferred to have its own distinct existence (living or nonliving)
• Wiktionary http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/entity
  • That which has a distinct existence as an individual unit. Often used for organisations which have no physical form; An existent something that …

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