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English
Etymology
From French microcosme, from Latin microcosmus, from Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, “small”) + κόσμος (kósmos, “universe, order”); micro- + -cosm.
Pronunciation
Noun
microcosm (plural microcosms)
- Human nature or the human body as representative of the wider universe; man considered as a miniature counterpart of divine or universal nature.
- 1972, Rolf Soellner, Shakespeare's Patterns of Self-Knowledge, Chapter 3: Microcosm and Macrocosm: Framing The Picture of Man, page 43:
- The Christian humanists were emphatic in their demand that a man who wishes to understand himself must realize that he is a little world that reflects on a smaller scale the larger world of the universe. On the other hand, the whole idea of man as a microcosm was questioned by those who were not in sympathy with the Christian humanists.
- (obsolete) The human body; a person.
c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :If you see this in the Map of my Microcosme, followes it that I am knowne well enough too?
- A smaller system which is seen as representative of a larger one.
1953 April, Henry Maxwell, “Abandoned Railway Stations”, in Railway Magazine, page 271:That short journey to Brighton was like a microcosm of the railway universe, embracing as it did a tunnel, a viaduct, two junctions, and two termini! Unfortunately, the route was far from direct.
1999 December 16, Barry McIntyre, The Guardian:‘In a sense, the problems experienced at Bristol are like a microcosm of what is happening in the NHS - experienced surgeons battling against difficult circumstances, with inadequate resources and in a culture where the finding of scapegoats appears to be put before the finding of solutions.’
2011 October 1, Phil Dawkes, “Sunderland 2 - 2 West Brom”, in BBC Sport:Steve Bruce's side have swung from highs to lows in what has been at best a wildly inconsistent start to the season. They experienced a microcosm of this within the opening 45 minutes at the Stadium of Light.
2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 5:It should come as no surprise to see promotional material and bulletin boards in the department’s languages, though English is also present in the signage of this microcosm of the institution.
- (ecology) A small natural ecosystem; an artificial ecosystem set up as an experimental model.
- 2009, Jerry C. Smrchek, Maurice G. Zeeman, Chapter 3: Assessing Risks to Ecological Systems from Chemicals, Peter P. Calow (editor), Handbook of Environmental Risk Assessment and Management, page 53:
- The method is relatively labour intensive (24-30 microcosms are run) and more difficult to interpret when compared with other microcosm methods (Shannon et al. 1986; Cairns & Cherry 1993).
Synonyms
Antonyms
Translations
human nature or body as representative of the wider universe
obsolete: the human body, a person
smaller system as representative of a larger one
small natural ecosystem; an artificial ecosystem set up as an experimental model
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from French microcosme.
Noun
microcosm n (plural (rare) microcosmuri)
- microcosm
- Antonyms: macrocosm, macrocosmos
Declension