WORLD

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does world mean? 

• WORLD (noun)
  The noun WORLD has 8 senses:

1. everything that exists anywhere

2. people in general; especially a distinctive group of people with some shared interest

3. all of your experiences that determine how things appear to you

4. the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on

5. people in general considered as a whole

6. a part of the earth that can be considered separately

7. the concerns of this life as distinguished from heaven and the afterlife

8. all of the living human inhabitants of the earth

  Familiarity information: WORLD used as a noun is common.

• WORLD (adjective)
  The adjective WORLD has 1 sense:

1. involving the entire earth; not limited or provincial in scope

  Familiarity information: WORLD used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WORLD (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Everything that exists anywhere

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

cosmos; creation; existence; macrocosm; universe; world

Context example:

the biggest tree in existence

Hypernyms ("world" is a kind of...):

natural object (an object occurring naturally; not made by man)

Meronyms (parts of "world"):

celestial body; heavenly body (natural objects visible in the sky)

estraterrestrial body; extraterrestrial object (a natural object existing outside the earth and outside the earth's atmosphere)

Meronyms (members of "world"):

extragalactic nebula; galaxy ((astronomy) a collection of star systems; any of the billions of systems each having many stars and nebulae and dust)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "world"):

closed universe ((cosmology) a universe that is spatially closed and in which there is sufficient matter to halt the expansion that began with the big bang; the visible matter is only 10 percent of the matter required for closure but there may be large amounts of dark matter)

natural order (the physical universe considered as an orderly system subject to natural (not human or supernatural) laws)

nature (the natural physical world including plants and animals and landscapes etc.)

Sense 2

Meaning:

People in general; especially a distinctive group of people with some shared interest

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

domain; world

Context example:

the Western world

Hypernyms ("world" is a kind of...):

class; social class; socio-economic class; stratum (people having the same social, economic, or educational status)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "world"):

academe; academia (the academic world)

Grub Street (the world of literary hacks)

Sense 3

Meaning:

All of your experiences that determine how things appear to you

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

reality; world

Context example:

for them demons were as much a part of reality as trees were

Hypernyms ("world" is a kind of...):

experience (the content of direct observation or participation in an event)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "world"):

real life; real world (the practical world as opposed to the academic world)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

earth; globe; world

Context example:

he sailed around the world

Instance hypernyms:

terrestrial planet (a planet having a compact rocky surface like the Earth's; the four innermost planets in the solar system)

Holonyms ("world" is a member of...):

solar system (the sun with the celestial bodies that revolve around it in its gravitational field)

Sense 5

Meaning:

People in general considered as a whole

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

populace; public; world

Context example:

he is a hero in the eyes of the public

Hypernyms ("world" is a kind of...):

people ((plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively)

Meronyms (members of "world"):

audience (the part of the general public interested in a source of information or entertainment)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "world"):

admass (the segment of the public that is easily influenced by mass media (chiefly British))

Sense 6

Meaning:

A part of the earth that can be considered separately

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Context example:

the world of insects

Hypernyms ("world" is a kind of...):

part; piece (a portion of a natural object)

Sense 7

Meaning:

The concerns of this life as distinguished from heaven and the afterlife

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

earth; earthly concern; world; worldly concern

Context example:

they consider the church to be independent of the world

Hypernyms ("world" is a kind of...):

concern (something that interests you because it is important or affects you)

Derivation:

worldly (characteristic of or devoted to the temporal world as opposed to the spiritual world)

Sense 8

Meaning:

All of the living human inhabitants of the earth

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

human beings; human race; humanity; humankind; humans; man; mankind; world

Context example:

she always used 'humankind' because 'mankind' seemed to slight the women

Hypernyms ("world" is a kind of...):

homo; human; human being; man (any living or extinct member of the family Hominidae characterized by superior intelligence, articulate speech, and erect carriage)

group; grouping (any number of entities (members) considered as a unit)

Meronyms (members of "world"):

people ((plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively)

• WORLD (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Involving the entire earth; not limited or provincial in scope

Synonyms:

global; planetary; world; world-wide; worldwide

Context example:

of worldwide significance

Similar:

international (concerning or belonging to all or at least two or more nations)

 Context examples 

“A prison indeed? Sotherton Court is the noblest old place in the world.”

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Acetaminophen is one of the world's most commonly used drugs, used for the treatment of pain and fever.

(Acetaminophen Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

They often seem to be in their "own world."

(Autism, NIH: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)

They are common throughout the world, and they can infect people and animals.

(Coronavirus Infections, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Most of us see our world in color.

(Color Blindness, NIH)

Slowly but steadily, the world has made progress against the disease.

(The Dog's Nose Knows Malaria, Kevin Enochs/VOA)

She seemed to me like a being from another world.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

By George! I'll do something in the world yet!

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Ah, me! it’s a wicked world, and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst of all.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He was the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world, and everybody hoped that he would never come there again.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)