microcosm
noun
Did you know?
Small wonder that the oldest meaning of microcosm in our dictionary is “little world”: the word comes ultimately from the Greek phrase mikros kosmos, meaning “little universe.” That meaning can be applied to many a wee realm, as in “the microcosm of the atom,” but microcosm was originally used by medieval scholars specifically to refer to humans as miniature embodiments of the natural universe. Microcosm soon expanded to refer to places (such as neighborhoods or other communities) thought to embody at a small scale characteristics of larger places, and later to anything serving as an apt representation of something bigger—as when Arthur C. Clarke, famed author of much fiction and nonfiction set in the cosmos, noted that “a sunken ship is a microcosm of the civilization that launched it.”
Examples of microcosm in a Sentence
Jordan Moreau, Variety, 18 Feb. 2025
Even that Tim Horton’s is a beautiful place in its own right, the combination of NHL kitsch and traditional Iranian tea paraphernalia offering a delightful microcosm of the film’s twilight zone liminality.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 12 Feb. 2025
Those two performances are a microcosm of a season in which the Penguins were terrible through the first six weeks, terrific from Thanksgiving until Christmas, and since have been middle-of-the-pack.
—Rob Rossi, The Athletic, 12 Jan. 2025
The moment between the head coach and the team’s No. 2 pass catcher was a microcosm of Sirianni’s relationship with his players.
—Ben Morse, CNN, 8 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for microcosm
Cite this Entry
“Microcosm.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/microcosm. Accessed 26 Feb. 2025.
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microcosm
noun
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