英和和英

語源

From French microcosme, from Latin microcosmus, from Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, “small”) + κόσμος (kósmos, “universe, order”); micro- +‎ -cosm.

発音

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈmaɪ.kɹə(ʊ)ˌkɒz.əm/
• (米国発音) IPA: /ˈmaɪ.kɹəˌkɑz.əm/

名詞

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. [from 15th c.]
   • 1972, Rolf Soellner, Shakespeare's Patterns of Self-Knowledge, Chapter 3: Microcosm and Macrocosm: Framing The Picture of Man, page 43:

     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.

2. (obsolete) The human body; a person. [17th–19th c.]
   • 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]:

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

3. A smaller system which is seen as representative of a larger one. [from 17th c.]

   Synonym: worldkin

   Coordinate terms: emblem; exemplar, example, representative; sample, specimen, sampler

   Near-synonyms: epitome, paradigm, model

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

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

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

     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.

   • 1999 December 16, Barry McIntyre, The Guardian:

     ‘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.’

   • 2011 October 1, Phil Dawkes, “Sunderland 2 - 2 West Brom”, in BBC Sport‎:

     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.

   • 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:

     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.

   • 2025 October 1, Richard Wilcock, “There is more to be proud of in the railway than we sometimes allow ourselves to see”, in RAIL, number 1045, page 40:

     The wider North West and Central Region is itself a microcosm of the industry's complexity. Covering the approaches to London Euston, stretching through Birmingham and the West Midlands, and reaching Manchester, Liverpool and beyond, it is a patchwork of overlapping markets, political geographies, and infrastructure types.

4. (ecology) A small natural ecosystem; an artificial ecosystem set up as an experimental model. [from 19th c.]
   • 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:

     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).

反意語

• (various senses): macrocosm

派生語