microcosmus

Forms

mīcrocosmus m (genitive mīcrocosmī); second declension^[1] It is also spelled microcosmos^[2][3] and michrocosmus.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek μικρόκοσμος (mikrókosmos, “little world”),^[1][5][6][3] from μικρός (mikrós, “small”) and κόσμος (kósmos, “order, world”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Isidore of Seville's Etymologiae, meaning a little world, a microcosm.^[5][6][2][7]

Semantic evolution

Medieval writers used it for man as a world in miniature: Bede writes that man is called microcosmos by the wise, “that is, a lesser world”.^[3] It could also be the human body,^[3] and Odo of Cluny contrasts it with the greater world.^[4] Bernard Silvestris (died 1153) named the two books of his work Megacosmus and Microcosmus.^[8] English took it over from Medieval Latin in the late 12th century, used by medieval writers for “a man”.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville uses it.^[5][6][7]
• 639–709 AD – Aldhelm glosses it as “the lesser world”.^[3][7]
• 993 – A charter calls Adam the microcosm.^[3]
• late 12th century – English borrows it as mycrocossmos.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A little world, a microcosm.^[5][6][2]
2. (Medieval Latin) Man as a world in miniature; also the human body.^{[3][4][10][11]}

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ a b c d e f g Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Novum Glossarium Mediae Latinitatis ab anno DCCC usque ad annum MCC (1957–), Copenhagen / Geneva / Paris: Union Académique Internationale; IRHT
5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
11. ^ Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl