cosmic English · revision 39640

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1649, J. Ellistone, translation of J. Böhme's Epistles|origins=grc κόσμος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈkɒz.mɪk/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈkɑz.mɪk/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|κοσμικός|tr=kosmikós|t=of the world or universe]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(AHD 2024) from [[m|grc|κόσμος|tr=kósmos|t=order; the world]], the source of [[cosmos]].^(OED 2026)^(Klein 1966)^(MWU 2024) Etymonline takes it from a Latinized form of the Greek word.^(Etymonline) The modern sense was borrowed in the 19th century from [[m|fr|cosmique]],^(Barnhart 1988) and the Shorter Oxford explains the word as formed on ''cosmos'' and [[-ic]] after the French.^(SOED 2002) The longer [[cosmical]] is older, from 1583.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of this world, worldly: 1649, in John Ellistone's translation of Jakob Böhme's ''Epistles''; this sense is obsolete.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1685.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The modern sense, belonging to the universe as an ordered whole, appears in 1846 in George Grote's ''History of Greece'';^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from it came "universal, immense".^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) John Tyndall used ''cosmic'' in 1876 for what belongs to outer space as distinct from the earth, as in ''cosmic dust'', and in 1879 for the vast scale of the universe.^(OED 2026) Thomas Carlyle used it in 1858 for "orderly", the opposite of chaotic, a rare sense.^(OED 2026) ''Cosmic rays'' is recorded from 1925, first in a paper by Robert Millikan in ''Nature''.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) In the slang of the psychedelic era, from 1967, ''cosmic'' meant excellent or overwhelming.^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1649 – worldly (obsolete).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1846 – of the universe as an ordered whole.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1858 – orderly (rare).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1876 – extraterrestrial, as in ''cosmic dust''.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1879 – on the vast scale of the universe.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1925 – ''cosmic rays''.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1967 – (slang) excellent.^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Relating to the whole [[universe]] or [[cosmos]]: ''cosmic laws''.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Coming from or happening in [[outer space]], as opposed to the earth or its surroundings.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # Immensely large or far-reaching; [[vast]]: ''an error of cosmic proportions''.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # (slang) Wonderful, overwhelming.^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cosmically]]

+ * [[cosmic background radiation]]

+ * [[cosmic dust]]

+ * [[cosmic ray]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cosmos]]

+ * [[cosmology]]

+ * [[cosmopolitan]]

+ * [[cosmogony]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}