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Microcosm vs Metacosm - What's the difference?

microcosm | metacosm |

As nouns the difference between microcosm and metacosm

is that microcosm is human nature or the human body as representative of the wider universe; man considered as a miniature counterpart of divine or universal nature while metacosm is a system that encompasses cosmos systems (macrocosm, mesocosm, microcosm).

microcosm

Noun

(en noun)
  • Human nature or the human body as representative of the wider universe; man considered as a miniature counterpart of divine or universal nature.
  • * 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.
  • (obsolete) The human body; a person.
  • * (William Shakespeare), , First Folio 1623, Act 2, Scene 1:
  • If you see this in the Map of my Microcosme , followes it that I am knowne well enough too?
  • A smaller system which is seen as representative (of) a larger one.
  • * 1999 , Barry McIntyre, The Guardian , 16 Dec 1999:
  • ‘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.’
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=October 1 , author=Phil Dawkes , title=Sunderland 2 - 2 West Brom , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=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.}}
  • (ecology) A small natural ecosystem; an artificial ecosystem set up as an experimental model.
  • * 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).

    Synonyms

    * (smaller system representative of a larger one) (l)

    Antonyms

    * macrocosm ----

    metacosm

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A system that encompasses cosmos systems (macrocosm, mesocosm, microcosm).
  • *1992. Sachiko Murata, Annemarie Schimmel. The Tao of Islam: A Sourcebook on Gender Relationships in Islamic Thought , page 225,
  • *:And both microcosm and macrocosm manifest the Metacosm . This is the law of correspondence.
  • A transcendent field of higher forces beyond the macrocosm (created world).
  • *2001. Cyril Glasse, Huston Smith. ''The New Encyclopedia of Islam, page 55,
  • *:The "Unity of the Intellect", or the essential identity of the Intellect in the metacosm (what is beyond the created world),
  • A manifestation of God.
  • *1997. James S. Cutsinger. Advice to the Serious Seeker: Meditations on the Teaching of Frithjof Schuon , page 48,
  • *:All the levels of the universe, the macrocosm, come about through the radiation or manifestation of God, the metacosm .
  • A complex that can be divided into three primary domains, a transcendent field of higher forces, a central world of acting peers, and a supporting world of fundamental objects. This field/peer/object relationship is relative to the frame of reference and reveals structural parallels between different systems. Linguistically, each domain usually has it's own particular terminology, defining, primary domain elements as peers, acting on the nouns of layers below, and subject to the superior fields acting as verbs on the peers and objects.
  • Derived terms

    *metacosmic