Microcosm meaning

mī'krə-kŏz'əm
A little world; miniature universe.
  • The concept that a human being is an epitome of the world.
  • A community regarded as a miniature or epitome of the world.
  • Anything regarded as epitomizing, encapsulating, or representing in miniature.
noun
6
1
The definition of a microcosm is a small subset of a whole that is generally considered to be representative of the whole.

An example of a microcosm is a small sect of the population which is surveyed in order to get an idea of the opinions of the general population.

noun
5
0
A small ecosystem, as a pond.
noun
4
0
Human nature or the human body as representative of the wider universe; man considered as a miniature counterpart of divine or universal nature. [from 15th c.]
noun
3
0
A small, representative system having analogies to a larger system in constitution, configuration, or development.
noun
3
1
Advertisement
A smaller system which is seen as representative of a larger one. [from 17th c.]
noun
2
0
(ecology) A small natural ecosystem; an artificial ecosystem set up as an experimental model. [from 19th c.]
noun
1
0

Origin of microcosm

  • Middle English microcosme man as a little world from Old French from Late Latin mīcrocosmus from Greek mīkros kosmos mīkros small kosmos world, order
    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
  • From French microcosme, from Latin microcosmus, from Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, “small") + κόσμος (kosmos, “world").
    From Wiktionary

Microcosm Sentence Examples

  • The conception of man, the microcosm, containing in himself all the parts of the universe or macrocosm, is also Babylonian, as again probably is the famous identification of the metals with the planets.

  • Of the three divisions logic is the least important; ethics is the outcome of the whole, and historically the all-important vital element; but the foundations of the whole system are best discerned in the science of nature, which deals pre-eminently with the macrocosm and the microcosm, the universe and man, including natural theology and an anthropology or psychology, the latter forming the direct introduction to ethics.

  • Nyegosh composed his first important poem, Lucha Microcosma or " The Light of the Microcosm (Belgrade, 1847), under the influence of Paradise Lost.

  • Note the parallel between the macrocosm and the microcosm.

  • The whole universe, however, was incomplete, and did not receive its finishing stroke till man was formed, who is the acme of the creation and the microcosm.

More sentences →

Related articles

Also Mentioned In

Words near microcosm in the Dictionary