| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| microcosm |
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| SYLLABICATION: | mi·cro·cosm |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  m  kr -k z m |
| NOUN: | A small, representative system having analogies to a larger system in constitution, configuration, or development: “He sees the auto industry as a microcosm of the U.S. itself” (William J. Hampton). | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English microcosme, man as a little world, from Old French, from Late Latin mcrocosmus, from Greek mkros kosmos : mkros, small + kosmos, world, order. | | OTHER FORMS: | micro·cosmic (-kzm k) , micro·cosmi·cal (-m-kl) —ADJECTIVE
micro·cosmi·cal·ly —ADVERB
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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