cosmopolite

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   literary: a person who is at home in many countries and regards the whole world as their community

   After decades abroad, the diplomat had become a seasoned cosmopolite.

2. 2
   noun

   biology: an organism found across most of the world rather than in one restricted region

   Because it occurs on nearly every continent, the painted lady is a true cosmopolite.

3. 3
   noun

   another name for the painted lady butterfly, Vanessa cardui

   A cosmopolite settled on the thistle during its long migration.

Borrowed through French cosmopolite and Latin cosmopolites from Greek kosmopolites, 'citizen of the world,' formed from kosmos, 'world,' and polites, 'citizen.' Naturalists extended the idea of worldwide citizenship to widely distributed species, including the painted lady butterfly.

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