cosmos

noun cos·mos \ ˈkäz-məs , senses 1 & 2 also -ˌmōs , -ˌmäs \

Updated on: 12 Apr 2018

Definition of cosmos

1 a : universe 1

b (1) : an orderly harmonious systematic universe — compare chaos

(2) : order, harmony

2 : a complex orderly self-inclusive system

3 plural cosmos play \ˈkäz-məs, -məz\ also cosmoses play \ˈkäz-mə-səz\

[New Latin, genus name, from Greek kosmos]

: any of a genus (Cosmos) of tropical American composite herbs; especially : a widely cultivated tall annual (C. bipinnatus) with yellow or red disks and showy ray flowers

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Examples of cosmos in a Sentence

the origins of the cosmos
an essay that ponders the place of humankind in the vast cosmos

Recent Examples of cosmos from the Web

One of the easiest flowers to plant from seed, cosmos can be directly sown into the garden bed.

— janine puhak, Fox News, "5 easy flowers to plant this spring," 2 Apr. 2018
Astronomers are racing to figure out what causes powerful bursts of radio light in the distant cosmosOne day in early 2007 undergraduate student David Narkevic came to us with some news.

— maura mclaughlin, Scientific American, "Flashes in the Night: The Mystery of Fast Radio Bursts," 1 Apr. 2018
For the last century, human civilization has been broadcasting its existence to the cosmos via our leaky radio transmissions.

— National Geographic, "Aliens Could Detect Life on Earth. Here's How.," 26 Mar. 2018
Physicist Stephen Hawking, who made complicated concepts like black holes, time and the history of the cosmos accessible to the masses, has died at the age of 76.

— daniela hernandez, WSJ, "Stephen Hawking, Who Bridged Science and Popular Culture, Dies at Age 76," 14 Mar. 2018
Their Thoth deck, named after the Egyptian god of alphabets, incorporates specific astrological symbolism into each card, linking the divination practice to the cosmos.

— aliza kelly faragher, Allure, "A Beginner's Guide to Reading Tarot Cards and Understanding Their Meanings," 26 Feb. 2018
The cosmos offers an early morning trifecta for the world’s skygazers Wednesday: a super blue blood moon.

— blaine friedlander, Washington Post, "The super blue blood moon happens Wednesday. Here’s how to see it.," 29 Jan. 2018
In Lauren Gunderson’s 2008 work, the title heroine (Krista Schafer Ewbank), an 18th-Century scientific genius, drops in from the cosmos to act out her autobiography.

— john monaghan, Detroit Free Press, "Review: 'Emilie' a perfect fit for Open Book Theatre," 18 Jan. 2018
Inevitably, One Strange Rock also raises questions not so much about the function of Earth as its place in the cosmos.

— jeffrey kluger, Time, "A New TV Series Will Make You Believe the Earth Is an Organism," 23 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cosmos.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

cosmos and the Universe

Cosmos often simply means "universe". But the word is generally used to suggest an orderly or harmonious universe, as it was originally used by Pythagoras in the 6th century B.C. Thus, a religious mystic may help put us in touch with the cosmos, and so may a physicist. The same is often true of the adjective cosmic: Cosmic rays (really particles rather than rays) bombard us from outer space, but cosmic questions come from human attempts to find order in the universe.