English Dictionary

microcosm

/ˈmaɪ.kɹə(ʊ)ˌkɒz.əm/

noun

Human nature or the human body as representative of the wider universe; man considered as a miniature counterpart of divine or universal nature. / (obsolete) The human body; a person.

The pond is a microcosm of the ecosystem.

意味（1）

Human nature or the human body as representative of the wider universe; man considered as a miniature counterpart of divine or universal nature.

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.

意味（2）

(obsolete) The human body; a person.

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

意味（3）

A smaller system which is seen as representative of a larger one.

‘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.’

意味（4）

(ecology) A small natural ecosystem; an artificial ecosystem set up as an experimental model.

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).