What does microcosm mean?
Word: Microcosm
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Microcosm means a small place or group that reflects in miniature something far larger.
How do you spell microcosm?
Syllables: mi - cro - cosm
Tricky part: Speech slips a faint vowel in before the closing m, so pupils add one on paper. The word ends with the s and the m touching.
Watch out for: microcosum, microcozm
Memory tip: It finishes as prism does: an s followed straight away by m, with no vowel between them.
Microcosm in a sentence
Example 1: A crowded village fair can be a microcosm of society.
Example 2: The film uses one busy tea stall as a microcosm of the neighbourhood.
Example 3: This small pond is a microcosm of life in the wetlands.
Fun Fact
Its two Greek parts mean little world, and old thinkers used it for a human being, seen as a small copy of the universe.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The Mumbai local train, with its hawkers, clerks, students and singers, has often been described as a microcosm of the great city that it serves every singel day.
a) hawkers
b) singel
c) described
d) microcosm
Show answer
b) singel. Single ends in le, as table does.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
m_cr_cosm
a) i, o
b) e, o
c) y, o
d) i, a
Show answer
a) i, o. Micro is the prefix for small, the same as in microwave.
Mingle-Mangle
Rearrange the jumbled letters in the sentence to form the right word:
Many writers treat the village square as a oocmcmisr of the whole nation.
a) microcosm
b) metropolis
c) mannerism
d) mechanism
Show answer
a) microcosm. Two c's and two o's are in the jumble, and no other option has both pairs.
Spell-o-Spell
Three of these words are spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of the misspelt word:
1. universe 2. habitat 3. ecosistem 4. microcosm
a) a community of living things and their home
b) a tiny model of a larger world
c) the natural home of an animal or a plant
d) all of space and everything in it
Show answer
a) a community of living things and their home. Ecosystem has a y after the s, as system always does.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Why might a writer use one busy street as a microcosm of a whole city?
a) the street holds the city's oldest shop
b) the street is the longest one in the city
c) the street shows the city's life in small
d) the street is easy to find on any map
Show answer
c) the street shows the city's life in small
2. Which of these could fairly be called a microcosm of the country?
a) a shelf of old mathematics books
b) a quiet lane with just two houses
c) a school with pupils from every state
d) a single mango tree in a yard
Show answer
c) a school with pupils from every state
