World is a common name for the whole of human civilization, specifically human experience, history, or the human condition in general, worldwide, i.e. anywhere on Earth.
In a philosophical context it may refer to:
- the whole of the physical Universe, or
- an ontological world (see world disclosure).
In a theological context, world usually refers to the material or the profane sphere, as opposed to the celestial, spiritual, transcendent or sacred. The "end of the world" refers to scenarios of the final end of human history, often in religious contexts.
World history is commonly understood as spanning the major geopolitical developments of about five millennia, from the first civilizations to the present.
World population is the sum of all human populations at any time; similarly, world economy is the sum of the economies of all societies (all countries), especially in the context of globalization. Terms like world championship, gross world product, world flags etc. also imply the sum or combination of all current-day sovereign states.
In terms such as world religion, world language, and world war, world suggests international or intercontinental scope without necessarily implying participation of the entire world.
In terms such as world map and world climate, world is used in the sense detached from human culture or civilization, referring to the planet Earth physically.
Read more about World: Etymology and Usage, Philosophy, Religion and Mythology
Other articles related to "world":
... These are of course the two World Wars, then followed by the Second Sino-Japanese War (which is sometimes considered part of World War II, or overlapping with that war) ... The death toll of World War II, being 60 million plus, surpasses all other war-death-tolls by a factor of two ... Deaths (millions) Date War 60–72 1939–1945 World War II (see World War II casualties) 36 755–763 An Shi Rebellion (number exaggerated based on ...
1860) was a German philosopher best known for his book, The World as Will and Representation, in which he claimed that our world is driven by a continually dissatisfied will, continually seeking ... four distinct aspects of experience in the phenomenal world consequently, he has been influential in the history of phenomenology ...
... In some cases war has stimulated a country's economy (World War II is often credited with bringing America out of the Great Depression) but in many cases, such as the wars of Louis XIV ... For example, Russia's involvement in World War I took such a toll on the Russian economy that it almost collapsed and greatly contributed to the start of the Russian Revolution of 1917 ...
... Other examples of non-aggression, also from World War I, are detailed in "Good-Bye to All That." These include spontaneous ceasefires to rebuild defences and retrieve casualties, alongside behaviour such as refusing ... The most notable spontaneous ceasefire of World War I was the Christmas truce ... or civilians, such as in the bombing of Dresden in World War II ...
... in using resources see energy conservation World economy, the economy of the world Virtual economy, an economy simulated in a virtual world Economy (religion), a bishop's discretionary power to relax rules ...
Famous quotes containing the word world:
“I am fairly tired—bored beyond endurance—by the world we live in, and its ideals, and am ready to say so, not violently, but kindly, as one rubs salt into the back of a flogged sailor as though one loved him.”
—Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)
“It is almost as if you were frantically constructing another world while the world that you live in dissolves beneath your feet, and that your survival depends on completing this construction at least one second before the old habitation collapses.”
—Tennessee Williams (1914–1983)
“The historian must have ... some conception of how men who are not historians behave. Otherwise he will move in a world of the dead. He can only gain that conception through personal experience, and he can only use his personal experiences when he is a genius.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)