Definition of "microcosm" []

• 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). (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The Finnish pavilion at Shanghai World Expo 2010 portrays our country in microcosm, presenting both Finland and its society to the world."
• "It was, in microcosm, an illustration of the success, and burden of the success of managing AIDS as a chronic disease in sub-Saharan Africa."
• "These two developments, I submit, signpost in microcosm a road to a future that is survivable, sane, and sustainable."