The term "metaphysical" was first used by John Dryden (XVII Century) in his "Essay on satire". Dryden meant it as a negative definition of a poetry that seem too difficult and with little formal charm, in a word too philosophical.

The man who gave the term popularity was Samuel Johnson, better known as doctor Johnson in his "Life of Cowley" (one of the metaphysical poets). Doctor Johnson's remarks were critical yet appreciative of the metaphysical poets, but they were ignored for the remainder of XVIII-XIX Century.
At the beginning of the XVII Century, a new principal had come to be the most important element in their art for a certain group of poets:

- WIT: originally meant INTELLIGENCE, was now interpreted as a particular kind of SKILL WITH WORDS, the ability to create unusual, unexpected images. The tendency could be seen all over Europe, for example in Spain in the poetry of Luis The Gongora (1561-1627) and in Italy in that of Gianbattista Marino (1569-1625) and the literary movement known as "Marinismo" o "Concettismo".