microcosm

American  

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

noun

1. a little world; a world in miniature (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

• microcosmic adjective
• microcosmical adjective

Etymology

Origin of microcosm

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

Example Sentences

This is a novel about pettiness, middle-class superficiality, disloyalty, prejudice and cruelty, with this coterie of rather vile friends acting as a microcosm for a society in decline.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

His corner, in the 52nd minute, was a microcosm of the day.

From BBC • Mar. 8, 2026

Tuliaupupu’s near-decade playing college sports is a microcosm of a growing trend in the amateur ranks, where athletes are staying in school longer to keep playing and competing as students.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 11, 2026

In culture and in publishing as a microcosm of culture, there is, in my mind, quite an unfortunate move toward uncomplicated and unnuanced takes, because we’re all overwhelmed by all the information in daily life.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 10, 2026

Farmville, the town that Dorothy left behind in the 1940s, had become in the 1950s a microcosm of Americas struggle over integration in its public schools.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

Related Words

• earth
• nature