microcosm

[ mahy-kruh-koz-uhm ]
/ ˈmaɪ krəˌkɒz əm /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR microcosm ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a little world; a world in miniature (opposed to macrocosm).
anything that is regarded as a world in miniature.
human beings, humanity, society, or the like, viewed as an epitome or miniature of the world or universe.

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Also called mi·cro·cos·mos [mahy-kruh-koz-muhs, -mohs]. /ˌmaɪ krəˈkɒz məs, -moʊs/.

Origin of microcosm

1150–1200; Middle English microcosme<Medieval Latin mīcrocosmus<Greek mīkròs kósmos small world. See micro-, cosmos

OTHER WORDS FROM microcosm

mi·cro·cos·mic, mi·cro·cos·mi·cal, adjective

Words nearby microcosm

microcomputing, microconstituent, microcopy, microcoria, microcornea, microcosm, microcosmic salt, microcoustic, microcredit, microcrystal, microcrystalline
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to microcosm

earth, nature, star, universe, creation, sphere, macrocosm, cosmos, terrene

Example sentences from the Web for microcosm

British Dictionary definitions for microcosm

microcosm

microcosmos (ˌmaɪkrəʊˈkɒzmɒs)

/ (ˈmaɪkrəʊˌkɒzəm) /

noun

a miniature representation of something, esp a unit, group, or place regarded as a copy of a larger one
man regarded as epitomizing the universe
Compare macrocosm

Derived forms of microcosm

microcosmic or microcosmical, adjective

Word Origin for microcosm

C15: via Medieval Latin from Greek mikros kosmos little world
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for microcosm

microcosm

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.)

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.