cosmos

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

|Updated on: 15 Aug 2018

Examples: cosmos in a Sentence

Editor's Note: cosmos and the Universe

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

That would mean the people restoring human spaceflight from U.S. soil won't be NASA astronauts at all, but the private executives and their customers who have become the new celebrities of America's foray into the cosmos.

— christian davenport, Houston Chronicle, "What does it mean to be a NASA astronaut in the celebrity space age of Elon Musk and Richard Branson?," 15 June 2018
While having your voice beamed into the cosmos is a pretty high honor, Stephen Castle at The New York Times reports that being buried in Westminster Abbey is about the highest Earthly honor out there.

— jason daley, Smithsonian, "A Message From Stephen Hawking Is On Its Way to a Black Hole," 15 June 2018
At the time, SpaceX expected to complete unmanned flight tests of the Dragon capsule and then repeatedly transport astronauts to and from the international space station, before using it to carry paying passengers deeper into the cosmos.

— andy pasztor, WSJ, "Elon Musk’s SpaceX Delays Plans for First Space Tourists to Circle Moon," 4 June 2018
And it is released into the cosmos only when those stars die.

— deborah netburn, latimes.com, "In a distant galaxy, scientists find oldest oxygen in universe and stars from edge of cosmic dawn," 16 May 2018
According to him, humanity’s habit of transmitting cheery greetings into the cosmos is unhinged.

— robin sloan, The Atlantic, "I Played Fortnite and Figured Out the Universe," 10 May 2018
Its primary mirror — like the Hubble 94 inches in diameter — is twice as big as the one that was being contemplated for Wfirst, giving it four times the light-gathering power and a deep reach into the cosmos.

— dennis overbye, New York Times, "Astronomers’ Dark Energy Hopes Fade to Gray," 19 Feb. 2018
The cosmos is relatively quiet, with the Libra Waxing Moon marking the main event.

— bess matassa, Teen Vogue, "Weekly Horoscopes July 16-22," 13 July 2018
Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game will be played in Washington on July 17, and the cosmos presents a formidable planetary lineup to celebrate.

— blaine p. friedlander jr., Washington Post, "Skywatch: July is the month of Mars," 30 June 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.