cosmopolite

American  

[koz-mop-uh-lahyt] / kɒzˈmɒp əˌlaɪt /

noun

1. a person who is cosmopolitan in their ideas, life, etc.; citizen of the world.

2. an animal or plant of worldwide distribution.

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cosmopolite British  

/ kɒzˈmɒpəˌlaɪt /

noun

1. a less common word for cosmopolitan

2. an animal or plant that occurs in most parts of the world

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Other Word Forms

• cosmopolitism noun
• noncosmopolite noun
• noncosmopolitism noun

Etymology

Origin of cosmopolite

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Greek kosmopolī́tēs “citizen of the world,” equivalent to kosmo- cosmo- + polī́tēs “citizen” ( pól(is) “a city, state” + -ītēs -ite ¹ )

Example Sentences

The cosmopolite respects and appreciates difference, while acknowledging that “no local loyalty can ever justify forgetting that each human being has responsibilities to every other.”

From Slate • Sep. 14, 2018

In an era when university art departments, like museums, tended to be divided into fiefs, each controlled by a specialist, Mr. Rosand, a genuine cosmopolite, walked a broad terrain.

From New York Times • Aug. 28, 2014

In the 1940s, Stravinsky, always a wandering cosmopolite, moved to Hollywood, near Schoenberg's home.

From Time Magazine Archive

"No one," said Johnson, "has done more to help us work with our economy" than Leslie T. Hope, 64, a wealthy, California-based cosmopolite whose unpaid avocation is promoting U.S.

From Time Magazine Archive

Hearn, like Gauguin, was a disillusionized cosmopolite, disgusted with the banal artifice, the blatant commercialism, the pedantic and Puritanic hypocrisy of our Occidental civilization.

From Paul Gauguin, His Life and Art by Fletcher, John Gould

Related Words

• inhabitant
• national
• resident
• taxpayer