Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The earth, especially together with the life it supports.
  • noun The universe.
  • noun Humankind considered as social beings; human society.
  • noun People as a whole; the public.
  • noun A specified part of the earth.
  • noun A part of the earth and its inhabitants as known at a given period in history.
  • noun A realm or domain.
  • noun A sphere of human activity or interest.
  • noun A class or group of people with common characteristics or pursuits.
  • noun A particular way of life.
  • noun All that relates to or affects the life of a person.
  • noun Secular life and its concerns.
  • noun Human existence; life.
  • noun A state of existence.
  • noun A large amount; much.
  • noun A celestial body such as a planet.
  • adjective Of or relating to the world.
  • adjective Involving or extending throughout the entire world.
  • idiom (for all the world) In all respects; precisely.
  • idiom (in the world) Used as an intensive.
  • idiom (out of this world) Extraordinary; superb.
  • idiom (the world over) Throughout the world.
  • idiom (world without end) Forever.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To introduce into the world; give birth to.
  • noun An age of man; a generation.
  • noun Any state or sphere of existence; any wide scene of life or action: as, a future world; the world to come.
  • noun The system of created things; all created existences; the whole creation; the created universe: a use dating from the time when the earth was supposed to be the center and sum of everything.
  • noun The inhabitants of the earth and their concerns or interests; the human race; humanity; mankind: also, a certain section, division, or class of men considered as a separate or independent whole; a number or body of people united by a common faith, cause, aim, object, pursuit, or the like: as, the religious world; the Christian world; the heathen world; the political, literary, or scientific world; the world of letters.
  • noun The earth and all created things upon it; the terraqueous globe.
  • noun That which pertains to the earth or to this present state of existence merely; secular affairs or interests; the concerns of this life, as opposed to those of the future life.
  • noun A particular part of the globe; a large portion or division of the globe: as, the Old World (the eastern hemisphere); the New World (the western hemisphere); the Roman world.
  • noun Public life; life in society; intercourse with one's fellows.
  • noun Any celestial orb or planetary body, especially considered as peopled, and as the scene of interests kindred to those of mankind.
  • noun The part of mankind that is devoted to the affairs of this life or interested in secular affairs; those concerned especially for the interests and pleasures of the present state of existence; the unregenerate or ungodly part of humanity.
  • noun The ways and manners of men; the practices of life; the habits, customs, and usages of society; social life in its various aspects.
  • noun A course of life; a career.
  • noun The current of events, especially as affecting the individual; circumstances or affairs, particularly those closely relating to one's self.
  • noun Any system of more or less complexity or development, characterized by harmony, order, or completeness; anything forming an organic whole; a microcosm.
  • noun Sphere; domain; province; region; realm: as, the world of dreams; the world of art.
  • noun A great number or quantity: as, a world of people; a world of words; a world of meaning. Compare a world, below.
  • noun Used in emphatic phrases expressing wonder, astonishment, perplexity, etc.: as, what in the world am I to do? how in all the world did you get there?
  • noun The sum of what the world contains; everything: as, she is all the world to me. Compare the whole world, below.
  • noun Hence the expression woman of the world (that is, a married woman), used by Audrey in “As you Like it.”
  • noun Synonyms Globe, etc. See earth.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The earth and the surrounding heavens; the creation; the system of created things; existent creation; the universe.
  • noun Any planet or heavenly body, especially when considered as inhabited, and as the scene of interests analogous with human interests.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English weorold; see wī-ro- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English world, weoreld, from Old English world, worold, woruld, weorold ("world, age, men, humanity, life, way of life, long period of time, cycle, eternity"), from Proto-Germanic *weraldiz (“lifetime, worldly existence, mankind, age of man, world”), equivalent to wer (“man”) +‎ eld (“age”). Cognate with Scots warld ("world"), West Frisian wrâld ("world"), Dutch wereld ("world"), Low German Werld ("world"), German Welt ("world"), Swedish värld ("world"), Icelandic veröld ("the world").

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