microcosm
noun
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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
Maura Johnston, Rolling Stone, 30 June 2025
This trial is a microcosm of a dangerous backlash that seeks to diminish the voices of survivors and preserve a culture in which men feel entitled to exploit women, while those who endure violence are shamed and intimidated into silence.
—Liz Roberts, New York Daily News, 30 June 2025
The whole show is about power, and so this is the microcosm of the power shift in the Brook house.
—Ronda Racha Penrice, HollywoodReporter, 29 June 2025
In that respect, Sunday was a microcosm of his whole season.
—Mac Cerullo, Hartford Courant, 29 June 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 11 Jul. 2025.
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microcosm
noun
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