microcosm

plural microcosms

1. Human nature or the human body as representative of the wider universe; man considered as a miniature counterpart of divine or universal nature.First known use 15th c.

   1 more example

   The Christian humanists were emphatic in their demand that a man who wishes to understand himself must realize that he is a little world that reflects on a smaller scale the larger world of the universe. […] On the other hand, the whole idea of man as a microcosm was questioned by those who were not in sympathy with the Christian humanists.

   1972, Rolf Soellner, Shakespeare's Patterns of Self-Knowledge, Chapter 3: Microcosm and Macrocosm: Framing The Picture of Man, page 43

2. obsoleteThe human body; a person.First known use 17th–19th c.

   If you see this in the Map of my Microcosme, followes it that I am knowne well enough too?

   c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]

3. A smaller system which is seen as representative of a larger one.First known use 17th c.

   Near-synonyms: epitome, paradigm, model

   5 more examples

   With a few actors at his disposition he created a microcosm of life.

   1924, Herbert Weir Smyth, “I. Introduction”, in Aeschylean Tragedy, page 19

   That short journey to Brighton was like a microcosm of the railway universe, embracing as it did a tunnel, a viaduct, two junctions, and two termini! Unfortunately, the route was far from direct.

   1953 April, Henry Maxwell, “Abandoned Railway Stations”, in Railway Magazine, page 271

   ‘In a sense, the problems experienced at Bristol are like a microcosm of what is happening in the NHS - experienced surgeons battling against difficult circumstances, with inadequate resources and in a culture where the finding of scapegoats appears to be put before the finding of solutions.’

   1999 December 16, Barry McIntyre, The Guardian

   Steve Bruce's side have swung from highs to lows in what has been at best a wildly inconsistent start to the season. They experienced a microcosm of this within the opening 45 minutes at the Stadium of Light.

   2011 October 1, Phil Dawkes, “Sunderland 2 - 2 West Brom”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 06 Jan 2012

   It should come as no surprise to see promotional material and bulletin boards in the department’s languages, though English is also present in the signage of this microcosm of the institution.

   2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 5

   Synonyms: worldkin, epitome, paradigm, model

4. biologyA small natural ecosystem; an artificial ecosystem set up as an experimental model.First known use 19th c.

   The method is relatively labour intensive (24-30 microcosms are run) and more difficult to interpret when compared with other microcosm methods (Shannon et al. 1986; Cairns & Cherry 1993).

   2009, Jerry C. Smrchek, Maurice G. Zeeman, Chapter 3: Assessing Risks to Ecological Systems from Chemicals, Peter P. Calow (editor), Handbook of Environmental Risk Assessment and Management, page 53