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cosmopolitan

 - 4 dictionary results

cos⋅mo⋅pol⋅i⋅tan

[koz-muh-pol-i-tn]
–adjective
1. free from local, provincial, or national ideas, prejudices, or attachments; at home all over the world.
2. of or characteristic of a cosmopolite.
3. belonging to all the world; not limited to just one part of the world.
4. Botany, Zoology. widely distributed over the globe.
–noun
5. a person who is free from local, provincial, or national bias or attachment; citizen of the world; cosmopolite.

Origin:
1835–45; cosmopolite + -an


cos⋅mo⋅pol⋅i⋅tan⋅ism, noun
cos⋅mo⋅pol⋅i⋅tan⋅ly, adverb


1. sophisticated, urbane, worldly.


1. provincial, parochial.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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cos·mo·pol·i·tan   (kŏz'mə-pŏl'ĭ-tn)   
adj.  
  1. Pertinent or common to the whole world: an issue of cosmopolitan import.

  2. Having constituent elements from all over the world or from many different parts of the world: the ancient and cosmopolitan societies of Syria and Egypt.

  3. So sophisticated as to be at home in all parts of the world or conversant with many spheres of interest: a cosmopolitan traveler.

  4. Ecology Growing or occurring in many parts of the world; widely distributed.

n.  A cosmopolitan person or organism; a cosmopolite.
cos'mo·pol'i·tan·ism n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

cosmopolitan  (adj.)
1844, from cosmopolite "citizen of the world" (1614), from Gk. kosmopolites, from kosmos "world" (see cosmos) + polites "citizen," from polis "city" (see policy (1)). Cosmopolitanism first recorded 1828.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

cosmopolitan cos·mo·pol·i·tan (kŏz'mə-pŏl'ĭ-tn)
adj.
Growing or occurring in many parts of the world; widely distributed. n.
A cosmopolitan organism.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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