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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
Ian Miller, FOXNews.com, 9 June 2026
Scheming, rumors, insults, secrets, love, lust and violence swirl within the family, a microcosm of the chaotic politics in India during the 1980s and ‘90s.
—The Know, Denver Post, 7 June 2026
California is not usually regarded as an American microcosm.
—Nathan Heller, New Yorker, 1 June 2026
The consumer economy, though, is flagging; pork prices have plunged amid a glut and languid spending, in a microcosm of muted demand in the country.
—J.d. Capelouto, semafor.com, 31 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for microcosm
Cite this Entry
“Microcosm.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/microcosm. Accessed 10 Jun. 2026.
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microcosm
noun
