The interchangeable usage of the term “meta-model” has caused confusion and ambiguity in research community, blurring their distinctions and applications in the context of collaborative decision-making, with a special focus on complex engineering systems. The definitions of the term found within the targeted application area are mapped and compared. The findings reveal two major interpretations of the term meta-model. One is a framework or blueprint for ensuring consistency and standardization among models, and the other is for approximating complex simulation models, providing computational efficiency. Meta-models, in both of their interpretations, serve different purposes, functions, and the scope of application. The two interpretations have a non-exclusive nature, meaning that both interpretations can be complementary rather than mutually exclusive. The goal of the study is semantic clarification to enhance comprehension and facilitate appropriate utilization of the definition within the realm of collaborative decision-making in complex engineering systems.