cosmopolite
/kɑzˈmɑpəˌlaɪt/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.39 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
One who is at home in every place; a citizen of the world; a cosmopolitan person.
noun
adj
Of or relating to cosmopolites; cosmopolitan.
adj
Oriented, exposed to or open to ideas and influences outside one's own social system or group.
adj
Distributed throughout the world; having a wide geographical distribution.
Example Sentences
- "First drink a health, this solemn night, / A health to England, every guest: / That man’s the best cosmopolite / Who loves his native country best."
- "Prince Gortschakoff has spoken of the elements of disturbance and the revolutionary cosmopolites of Europe, and has asked France and England and Austria to repress their activity. Well, my Lords, no doubt as carrion birds are drawn by instinct to the battle-field, so, wherever there is disturbance, the moral and political vultures of Europe will flock to take part in it"
- "The wild goose is more of a cosmopolite than we; he breaks his fast in Canada, takes a luncheon in the Ohio, and plumes himself for the night in a southern bayou."
- "He was a pale, lean, acute, undeveloped little cosmopolite, who liked intellectual gymnastics and who, also, as regards the behaviour of mankind, had noticed more things than you might suppose, but who nevertheless had his proper playroom of superstitions, where he smashed a dozen toys a day."
- "[…] the fifties were bad years for the Jews. The campaign against the "rootless cosmopolites" was in full swing […]"
- "Eighteenth-century Masons viewed themselves as cosmopolites, as citizens of the world who practiced toleration and inclusiveness, believed in the fundamental unity of mankind, and prized affection, sociability and benevolence."
Etymology
Borrowed from French cosmopolite, from Latin cosmopolītēs, itself borrowed from Koine Greek κοσμοπολίτης (kosmopolítēs, “citizen of the world”), from Ancient Greek κόσμος (kósmos, “world”) + πολίτης (polítēs, “citizen”).
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
- Root: cosmopolite, cosmopolītēs, κοσμοπολίτης, κόσμος