Most specific consequences in the description logic [formula omitted].

The notion of a most specific consequence with respect to some terminological box is introduced, conditions for its existence in the description logic E L and its variants are provided, and means for its computation are developed. Algebraic properties of most specific consequences are explored. Furthermore, several applications that make use of this new notion are proposed and, in particular, it is shown how given terminological knowledge can be incorporated in existing approaches for the axiomatization of observations. For instance, a procedure for an incremental learning of concept inclusions from sequences of interpretations is developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]