microcosm

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Here are a few specimen sentences Fail not most carefully to peruse the books of the Greek, Arabian and Latin physicians, not despising the Talmudists and Cabalists and by frequent anatomies get thee the perfect knowledge of that other world, called the microcosm, which is man.

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Definitions (5)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. noun A small, representative system having analogies to a larger system in constitution, configuration, or development: "He sees the auto industry as a microcosm of the U.S. itself” (William J. Hampton).

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Examples (50)

  • In fact, Illinois has often been referred to as a microcosm for the entire nation. —  Best Syndication -
  • The words she heard were: seldom (with a note to avoid "never"), microcosm, and discourse. —  Ask MetaFilter
  • Here are a few specimen sentences Fail not most carefully to peruse the books of the Greek, Arabian and Latin physicians, not despising the Talmudists and Cabalists and by frequent anatomies get thee the perfect knowledge of that other world, called the microcosm, which is man. —  Classic French Course in English
  • Now, the first part of evolution consists in condensing round vital centres[60] (_souls_) atoms aggregated in combinations of a progressively increasing density, on to those that make up the physical plane; when the soul has thus clothed itself with the elements of all the planes, the resulting form is called a "microcosm"--a small Cosmos--for it contains, in reality, all the elements contained in the Universe. —  Reincarnation A Study in Human Evolution
  • Fail not at the same time most carefully to peruse the Talmudists and Cabalists, and be sure by frequent anatomies to gain a perfect knowledge of that other world called the microcosm, which is man. —  Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama A Revised American Edition of the Reader's Handbook, Vol. 3
 

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English microcosme, man as a little world, from Old French, from Late Latin mīcrocosmus, from Greek mīkros kosmos : mīkros, small + kosmos, world, order.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from French microcosme = Spanish microcósmos = Portuguese Italian microcosmo, from Late Latin microcosmus (Boëthius), from LGr. μικρόκοσμος, a little world, from Greek μικρός, Small, + κόσμος, world.
 

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/ˈmaɪkrəkɑzm/
by American Heritage

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