microstate

English

Etymology

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *mey-der.?
Ancient Greek μῑκρός (mīkrós)
Ancient Greek μῑκρο- (mīkro-)lbor.
English micro-
Proto-Indo-European *steh₂-
Proto-Indo-European *-tus
Proto-Indo-European *stéh₂-tu-s ~ *sth₂-téw-s
Proto-Italic *status
Latin statuslbor.
Old French estatbor.
Middle English stat
English state
English microstate

    From micro- + state.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈmaɪ.kɹəʊˌsteɪt/
    • Audio (Southern England):(file)

    Noun

    microstate (plural microstates)

    1. (politics) A sovereign state which has a very small land area and population.
      Synonym: (one sense) micronation
    2. (physics) The specific detailed microscopic configuration of a system.
      Antonym: macrostate
      • 1989, H. E. Avery, D. John Shaw, Physical Chemistry, page 33:
        However, the number of microstates in which the excess of molecules in one bulb over the number in the other bulb is sufficient to permit the measurement of a pressure difference is a quite discountably small fraction of the total number of microstates.

    Derived terms

    • microstate continuum

    Translations

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