World
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
Related e |
Featured: |
The World is a name for the planet Earth seen from a human point of view, as a place inhabited by human beings. It is often used to mean the sum of human experience and history, or the 'human condition' in general. There are approximately 6.6 billion people living on the Earth. Especially in a metaphysical context, it can also refer to everything that makes up reality, the universe: see World (philosophy).
Usage
'World' distinguishes the entire planet or population from any particular country or region: world affairs are those which pertain not just to one place but to the whole world, and world history is a field of history which examines events from a global (rather than a national or a regional) perspective. Earth, on the other hand, refers to the planet as a physical entity, and distinguishes it from other planets and physical objects.
'World' can also be used attributively, as an adjective, to mean 'global', 'relating to the whole world', forming usages such as World community. See World (adjective).
By extension, a 'world' may refer to any planet or heavenly body, especially when it is thought of as inhabited.
'World', when qualified, can also refer to a particular domain of human experience.
- The world of work describes paid work and the pursuit of a career, in all its social aspects, to distinguish it from home life and academic study.
- The fashion world describes the environment of the designers, fashion houses and consumers that make up the fashion industry.
- The New World is a part of the world discovered or colonized by Europeans later than other parts; it usually refers to the American continents or to Australia. Native Americans and Native Australians tend to dislike this usage. For them America and Australia are not new. Their ancestors have lived there since time immemorial. The Old World refers, by contrast, to the continents of Europe, Asia and north Africa.
Namesakes
- Rabelais and His World by Mikhail Bakhtin
- The World as Will and Representation by Arthur Schopenhauer
See also
- Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia
- All the world's a stage
- External world
- Imperialism
- International
- World's Fair
- World Heritage Site
- World Press Photo
- World War I
- World War II
- World War II resistance movement
- World cinema
- World culture
- World domination
- World literature
- World music
- World population
- Worldview
Related e |
Featured: |