microcosm English · revision 791

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈmaɪ.kɹə(ʊ)ˌkɒz.əm/ ''(UK)''; /ˈmaɪ.kɹəˌkɑz.əm/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|microcosme]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995) [[bor|frm|microcosme]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995) [[der|la-med|microcosmus]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) [[der|grc|μικρὸς κόσμος|tr=mikròs kósmos|t=little world]] (see [[micro-]] and [[cosmos]]).^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hendrickson 2008) An earlier Middle English form, ''microcosmos'', was borrowed directly from Medieval Latin about 1200.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Human nature, man viewed as an epitome of the great world or universe (c. 1200 in the OED; late 12th century in Etymonline, in the ''Ormulum'' as ''mycrocossmos'').^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Philosophers applied the “little world” metaphorically to the human frame, and it became a favourite medieval word for “man”.^(Etymonline)^(Hendrickson 2008) The ''Ormulum'' (c. 1175) explains that in English it means “the little world”, and Old English glossaries render it ''læsse middangeard''.^(Etymonline) The modern form dates from the early 15th century.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) From 1562 the word was applied to a community or other complex unity regarded as an epitome of the world,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and later to anything regarded as a world in miniature.^(RHWU)^(Hendrickson 2008) In alchemy it once meant the philosopher's stone (1477).^(OED 1989) Its opposite is ''[[macrocosm]]''.^(Hendrickson 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1175 – ''mycrocossmos'' in the ''Ormulum''.^(Etymonline)

+ * probably before 1430 – ''mycrocosme''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1477 – the philosopher's stone (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1562 – a community as an epitome of the world.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1808 – a miniature representation.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small, representative system that mirrors a larger one; a world in miniature.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Humanity or human nature regarded as an epitome of the world or universe.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[microcosmic]]

+ * [[microcosmically]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[macrocosm]]

+ * [[cosmos]]

+ * [[cosmic]]

+ * [[cosmetic]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The phrase ''in microcosm'' means “in a greatly reduced form”.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}