metalevel

Etymology

From meta- + level.

metalevel means The level of discourse that concerns the discourse itself; a level incorporating that same level. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 91 out of 100.

Why this word is great

METALEVEL — [Noun] A conceptual tier of discourse or analysis that takes as its object the discourse itself. Formed within English by derivation from the combining form meta- (meaning "beyond, about, or at a higher level") and the noun level. Unlike the "object-level," which contains primary facts and subjects, or "meta-analysis," a specific statistical technique, a metalevel is the abstract architecture of self-awareness. It is the rulebook containing a rule for amending the rules, the footnote that questions the validity of footnoting, or the unsettling sight of a security monitor feeding on its own image—an infinite recursion where the tool and the subject become one. This is thought's necessary, recursive turn upon its own machinery, the quiet whisper that we are forever talking about talking.

noun

The level of discourse that concerns the discourse itself; a level incorporating that same level.