microcosm

[ mahy-kruh-koz-uh m ]

/ ˈmaɪ krəˌkɒz əm /

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.

Words nearby microcosm

microcomputing, microconstituent, microcopy, microcoria, microcornea, microcosm, microcosmic salt, microcoustic, microcredit, microcrystal, microcrystalline

Origin of microcosm

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

Also called mi·cro·cos·mos

[mahy-kruh-koz-muh s, -mohs] /ˌmaɪ krəˈkɒz məs, -moʊs/.

OTHER WORDS FROM microcosm

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for microcosmos

Thus the simple image of decoration is destroyed, and a microcosmos is created in its place.
Modern Painting, Its Tendency and Meaning|Willard Huntington Wright
Thus man with his dualistic soul is a microcosmos, born from the Macrocosmos spontaneously.
The Evolution of Modern Medicine|William Osler

British Dictionary definitions for microcosmos

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 microcosmos

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.)