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microcosm
[ mahy-kruh-koz-uhm ]
noun
- a little world; a world in miniature ( macrocosm ):
The human body is a microcosm.
- 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.
- 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: Compare mesocosm ( def ).
Researchers have investigated the survival of this bacteria in saline solutions and seawater in laboratory microcosms.
- 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.
microcosm
/ ˈmaɪkrəʊˌkɒzəm; ˌmaɪkrəʊˈkɒzmɒs /
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
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 .)
Derived Forms
- ˌˈDz, adjective
Other Word Forms
- ··Dz· [mahy-kr, uh, -, koz, -mik], ··Dz·· adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of microcosm1
Word History and Origins
Origin of microcosm1
Example Sentences
The rollercoaster nature of his triumph, secured eventually at the first play-off hole, was essentially a microcosm of a career which has provided exhilarating highs and devastating lows.
This scandal is a microcosm of where we stand as a country.
Saturday was Scotland in microcosm, their excellence and their weakness.
In many ways, that particular play has been a microcosm of Jones’ play with the Clippers this season.
A destination that was supposed to be a refuge from the world’s problems instead became a microcosm for them, a place where the class divide and legacy of American imperialism were on vivid display.
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