macrocosm

noun

mac·​ro·​cosm ˈma-krə-ˌkä-zəm 

1

: the great world : universe

2

: a complex that is a large-scale reproduction of one of its constituents

macrocosmic

ˌma-krə-ˈkäz-mik 

adjective

macrocosmically

ˌma-krə-ˈkäz-mi-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Synonyms

• cosmos
• creation
• nature
• universe
• world

Examples of macrocosm in a Sentence

almost the entirety of the vast macrocosm remains beyond our reach

Recent Examples on the Web

Microcosm also meets macrocosm in Nohemí Pérez’s drawings: five monumental works that show forests on fire in the Catatumbo region of Columbia, which Pérez calls home. —Emily Watlington, ARTnews.com, 28 Nov. 2024

The social slippage that has led the world to become a macrocosm of the Swap Shop — so many of us free-diving for usable ephemera, pooling our limited resources with one another — is not something to celebrate. —New York Times, 3 May 2022

But the flower choker holds a unique place in the macrocosm of the early aughts revival. —Frances Solá-Santiago, refinery29.com, 28 Feb. 2022

In the macrocosm of white patriarchy and supremacy, Yendry understands that opposing standards hardly shields us from a world functioning from the very prejudices that impact Black and brown communities around the globe. —Marjua Estevez, refinery29.com, 24 Feb. 2022

In other words, the macrocosm of the cosmos is reflected in the microcosm of individual experience. —Aliza Kelly Faragher, Allure, 6 Jan. 2020

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French & Medieval Latin; French macrocosme, going back to Middle French, borrowed from Medieval Latin macrocosmus, from macro- macro- + -cosmus, in microcosmus microcosm

First Known Use

1602, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

macrocosm

noun

mac·​ro·​cosm ˈmak-rə-ˌkäz-əm 

: the world as a whole : universe