microcosm

American  

[mahy-kruh-koz-uhm] / ˈmaɪ krəˌkɒz əm /

noun

microcosms plural

1. a little world; a world in miniature (opposed to macrocosm).

   The human body is a microcosm.

2. anything regarded as a representative, miniature version of a larger complex reality.

   The fictional small town of Black Rock, California, serves as a microcosm of America in the postwar era.

3. Environmental Science. a controlled experimental environment or ecosystem small enough to be housed in a laboratory and reproducing conditions that occur on a larger scale in the outdoors.

   Researchers have investigated the survival of this bacteria in saline solutions and seawater in laboratory microcosms.

4. human beings, humanity, society, or the like, viewed as an epitome or miniature of the world or universe.

   In the human microcosm, intellect is the deep spiritual center of being.

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microcosm British  

/ ˈmaɪkrəʊˌkɒzəm, ˌmaɪkrəʊˈkɒzmɒs /

noun

1. a miniature representation of something, esp a unit, group, or place regarded as a copy of a larger one

2. man regarded as epitomizing the universe

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microcosm Cultural  

1. A representation of something on a much smaller scale. Microcosm means “small world,” and in the thought of the Renaissance, it was applied specifically to human beings, who were considered to be small-scale models of the universe, with all its variety and contradiction. (Compare macrocosm.)

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• microcosmic
  adjective
• microcosmical
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• microcosms
  plural

Etymology

Origin of microcosm

First recorded in 1150–1200; micro- ( def. ) + -cosm ( def. )

Explanation

When you think of microcosm, picture your home town inside a snow globe. The teeny tiny city is a microcosm of the one you live in. It is that place in miniature. Microcosm can be used to describe anything that is a miniature representation of something else. Think of a specific event that symbolizes the way things always seems to go, like the way a kind act by your mom can represent the caring relationship you have with her. That weekend with your partner that started with laughter but ended in tears? That's a microcosm of the whole lousy relationship. The dance where you regretted your outfit, giggled with friends, annoyed a teacher, and missed your chance at dancing with your crush? A microcosm of high school.

Example Sentences

After that, Shotwell took a job at the Aerospace Corporation, where she stayed for 10 years, and then joined Microcosm, a small space engineering company, in 1998 as the company’s director of space systems.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 11, 2026

After a decade there, Shotwell took a role at another space company, called Microcosm.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 10, 2026

Musk deserves credit for hiring Shotwell away from Microcosm, an El Segundo rocket company, and staying out of her way while taking credit for the company’s achievements as a government contractor.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 7, 2022

Some of these women’s projects look like dead-end paths in retrospect; Hall’s hypermedia system Microcosm, for instance, was steamrolled by the web.

From The Verge • Mar. 5, 2018

Evidently Simon taught the ancient, immemorial doctrine that the Microcosm Man was the Mirror and Potentiality of the Cosmos, the Macrocosm, as we have already seen above.

From Simon Magus by Mead, George Robert Stow

Related Words

• earth
• nature