microcosm

[mahy-kruh-koz-uhm]

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.

microcosm

/ 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

microcosm

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.)

Other Word Forms

• microcosmic adjective
• microcosmical adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of microcosm¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of microcosm¹

C15: via Medieval Latin from Greek mikros kosmos little world

Example Sentences

How easily the network has forgotten that the original “Housewives” series, “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” became a hit because it peered into a microcosm of life most viewers hadn’t thought to imagine.

From Salon

“I can guarantee you if it was anybody else there wouldn’t be this little slap on the wrist. It’s a microcosm of what’s going on in Palestine ... punishments are few and far between,” Ramsey said.

From Los Angeles Times

Summer is just a three-month microcosm of the larger issues facing parents and, more specifically, moms who are desperate for a lessening of their mental load.

From Los Angeles Times

"In a microcosm that showed me what kind of care Winbourne was getting."

From BBC

It was PSG in a microcosm, Rice's warning delivered in the most painful manner.

From BBC

Related Words

• earth 
• nature