world

English Online Dictionary. What means world‎? What does world mean?

English

Alternative forms

• vurld (Bermuda)

Etymology

From Middle English world, weoreld, from Old English weorold (“world”), from Proto-West Germanic *weraldi, from Proto-Germanic *weraldiz (“lifetime, human existence, world”, literally “age/era of man”), equivalent to wer (“man”) +‎ eld (“age”). Superseded Middle English mounde (“world”), from Old French monde, munde (“world”). Cognate with Scots warld (“world”), Saterland Frisian Waareld (“world”), West Frisian wrâld (“world”), Afrikaans wêreld (“world”), Dutch wereld (“world”), Low German Werld (“world”), German Welt (“world”), Norwegian Bokmål verden (“(the) world”), Norwegian Nynorsk verd (“world”), Swedish värld (“world”), Icelandic veröld (“world”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: wûrld
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /wɜːld/
  • (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /wɜɹld/, [wɝɫd]
  • (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /wɵːld/, [wɵːɯ̯d̥]
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)ld
• Homophones: whirled (with both the wine–whine merger and fern–fir–fur merger); whorled (with both mergers, Received Pronunciation only)

Noun

world (plural worlds)

1. (with "the" or a plural possessive pronoun) The subjective human experience, regarded collectively; human collective existence; existence in general; the reality we live in.

   Synonym: (proper noun with alternative capitalization) World
2. (with "the" or a singular possessive pronoun) The subjective human experience, regarded individually.
3. (metonymic, with "the") A majority of people.

   Running after God is the only life worth living. Even though the world believes that living for God is boring, we believe that there is nothing more exciting.

4. The Universe.
5. (with "the") The Earth, especially in a geopolitical or cultural context, or as the physical planet.

   Synonyms: the earth, Earth, the globe, God's green earth, Sol III, the planet

   “As the world turns, we know the bleakness of winter, the promise of spring, the fullness of summer and the harvest of autumn–the cycle of life is complete.” - quotation attributed to Irna Phillips.
6. (with "a") Any of several possible scenarios concerning The Earth, either as the physical planet, or in a geopolitical, cultural or societal context.

7. (countable) (Several) alternative scenarios concerning The Earth, either as the physical planet, or in a geopolitical, cultural or societal context.
8. (countable) A planet, especially one which is inhabited or inhabitable.
   • 2007 September 27, Marc Rayman (interviewee), “NASA's Ion-Drive Asteroid Hunter Lifts Off”, National Public Radio:

     I think many people think of asteroids as kind of little chips of rock. But the places that Dawn is going to really are more like worlds.

   1. (by extension) Any other astronomical body which may be inhabitable, such as a natural satellite.
9. A very large extent of country.

   the New World

10. In various mythologies, cosmologies, etc., one of a number of separate realms or regions having different characteristics and occupied by different types of inhabitants.
11. A fictional realm, such as a planet, containing one or multiple societies of beings, especially intelligent ones.

    the world of Narnia

    the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

    a zombie world

12. An individual or group perspective or social setting.

    Synonym: circle

    Welcome to my world.
13. (computing) The part of an operating system distributed with the kernel, consisting of the shell and other programs.
14. (video games) A subdivision of a game, consisting of a series of stages or levels that usually share a similar environment or theme.

    Have you reached the boss at the end of the ice world?

    There's a hidden warp to the next world down this pipe.

15. (tarot) The twenty-second trump or major arcana card of the tarot.
16. (informal) A great amount, a lot.

    Taking a break from work seems to have done her a world of good.

    You're going to be in a world of trouble when your family finds out.

    to think the world of someone

    to mean the world to someone

17. (archaic) Age, era.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

world (third-person singular simple present worlds, present participle worlding, simple past and past participle worlded)

1. (transitive) To consider or cause to be considered from a global perspective; to consider as a global whole, rather than making or focusing on national or other distinctions; compare globalize.
2. (transitive) To make real; to make worldly.

See also

• 🜨, ♁
• global
• globalisation, globalization

Further reading

• “world”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• world in Britannica Dictionary
• world in Sentence collocations by Cambridge Dictionary
• world in Ozdic collocation dictionary
• world in WordReference English Collocations

Anagrams

• l-word

Middle English

Alternative forms

• weoreld, werld, wordle, woreld, worild, worlde, woruld
• werelld, weorelld (Ormulum)

Etymology

Inherited from Old English woruld, worold, from Proto-West Germanic *weraldi, from Proto-Germanic *weraldiz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wurld/, /wɔrld/
• IPA^(key): /wɛrld/, (late) /warld/ (Northern, Norfolk)
• IPA^(key): /ˈwurdəl/, /ˈwurdlə/ (East Anglia, Kent, Southern, Southwest Midlands)

Noun

world (plural worldes)

1. The world, the planet (i.e., Earth)
2. A dimension, realm, or existence, especially human existence.
3. The trappings and features of human life.
4. The political entities of the world.
5. The people of the world, especially when judging someone.
6. An age, era or epoch.
7. The universe, the totality of existence.

Related terms

• worlderiche
• worldly

Descendants

• English: world
• Scots: warld

References

Old English

Noun

world f

1. Alternative form of weorold