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Why was Aristotle’s treatise given the title Ta meta ta physika?

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Marble bust of Aristotle with a beard and draped robe, showing detailed facial features and wavy hair, set against a dark background. — metaphysics Detail of a Roman copy (2nd century bce) of a Greek alabaster portrait bust of Aristotle (c. 325 bce); in the collection of the Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome.

In the 1st century BCE, an editor of Aristotle’s works assigned the title Ta meta ta physika to his treatise on "first philosophy." The phrase translates roughly to "the ones [books] after the ones about nature".1

This title refers to the placement of the treatise in the collection of Aristotle’s works, appearing after his writings on the natural world, which are collectively known as the Physics. The editor likely intended to convey that students should master the Physics—which concerns philosophical problems regarding sensible and mutable objects—before advancing to the study of first philosophy, which examines "being as such" and the "first causes of things". The Latin noun metaphysica was subsequently derived from this Greek title, eventually becoming the name for the entire field of metaphysics.12