Kosmos comes from a verb komizo which means "to take care of" or "to tend." Kosmos is primarily defined as "an orderly arrangement" of which the stars and planet were perceived as an example. I think a good English equivalent might be something like "design." which can refer to the Grand Design or to hair and makeup. Answer from brojangles on reddit.com
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Precept Austin
preceptaustin.org › world-kosmos
World - Kosmos (Greek Word Study) | Precept Austin
May 18, 2021 - In early Greek literature the word kosmos spoke of building or establishing a culture or city. Anything which was made up of parts was called a kosmos as, for instance, a group of rowers or a troop of soldiers. By the time of Plato, the kosmos had taken on the meaning of a world or universal ...
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/academicbiblical › why does the greek word kosmos mean world/worldly and adornment?
r/AcademicBiblical on Reddit: Why does the Greek word Kosmos mean world/worldly and adornment?
October 5, 2019 -

My apologies if I could articulate this better. Some people believe it is sinful to wear jewelry based on verses like 1 Peter 3:3-4. To me, for years I took it as moderation, a women’s beauty should first come from a godly character, and outward adornment is ok but should be used modestly.

However, while digging deeper, I noticed the Greek word for adornment in that passage is Kosmos, which in other places means world/worldly. Kosmos is also the word from which we get “cosmetics” from.

Pardon me for being new to this, but since they are the same word, does this mean adornment is worldly? If so how would we decipher what is acceptable clothing and not?

Thank you for your time!

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Kosmos comes from a verb komizo which means "to take care of" or "to tend." Kosmos is primarily defined as "an orderly arrangement" of which the stars and planet were perceived as an example. I think a good English equivalent might be something like "design." which can refer to the Grand Design or to hair and makeup.
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It is normal and expected that words will have more than one usage or even more than one meaning, and how these are the same word can be quite confusing to a non-native speaker. For a similarly fashion-based example, see how in English “suit” can mean “appropriate”, or refer to a type of card, or to men’s dress clothes. It all seems quite normal to someone very familiar to a language, but might seem chaotic and absurd to someone not. In regards to κόσμος in particular, the base meaning is related to order (I’m sure Greek scholars can point to better sources, but see Strong’s Concordance 2889 for a simple source readily available to everyone, or Thayer’s for an equally readily available, but much more thorough breakdown), and is often parsed without context as “something ordered”. It makes a little more sense to us outsiders then, that it should be translated as both “world” (since the world could be thought of as an ordered system of sorts) and “adorned” (as in “put into order”, after a way). Thayers seems to imply that the latter is actually the older and more basic meaning, but it’s not surprising that the former would be more common in the New Testament, It’s an easy trap to fall into to assume that a word translated one way in place should be translated that way elsewhere, but that’s not how languages work. There is very rarely a direct, perfect one-to-one correspondence that works for all meanings, usages, and contexts. I’d also keep in mind that the controversy over a single word doesn’t necessarily change the general meaning of an entire passage. Even if it were better read as “worldly garments” than as “adorned garments”, or even if “κόσμος” were missing entirely, that wouldn’t impact the appropriateness of your interpretation either way, in the context as a whole.
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Bible Study Tools
biblestudytools.com › lexicons › greek › nas › kosmos.html
Kosmos Meaning - Greek Lexicon | New Testament (NAS) | Bible Study Tools
Discover the original meaning of Kosmos in the NAS Bible using the New Testament Greek Lexicon - King James Version. Learn the audio pronunciation, word origin and usage in the Bible, plus scripture verse references of Kosmos.
Discussions

Why does the Greek word Kosmos mean world/worldly and adornment?
Kosmos comes from a verb komizo which means "to take care of" or "to tend." Kosmos is primarily defined as "an orderly arrangement" of which the stars and planet were perceived as an example. I think a good English equivalent might be something like "design." which can refer to the Grand Design or to hair and makeup. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/AcademicBiblical
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October 5, 2019
What did the Greek word "Kosmos" in the New Testament really mean?

Κοσμος means world in a universal sense, often used poetically, γε means earth, soil, the world as one, the land, or the physical state of being on earth.

More on reddit.com
🌐 r/AskBibleScholars
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July 7, 2017
Who or what is Kosmos?
Kosmos Was a concept in Greek philosophy that described roughly what we today would call the cosmos or the universe. The intricate order of things. We do not have an example of Kosmos being seen as a deity. Rather, the various gods had their duties in keeping the cosmos running. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/GreekMythology
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December 5, 2023
cosmos vs kosmos?
Welcome to r/askphilosophy ! Please read our updated rules and guidelines before commenting. Please note that as of July 1 2023, given recent changes to reddit's platform which make moderation significantly more difficult, r/askphilosophy has moved to only allowing answers and follow-up questions by panelists. If you wish to learn more, or to apply to become a panelist, see this post . I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/askphilosophy
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October 22, 2023
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Bill Mounce
billmounce.com › greek-dictionary › kosmos
κόσμος | Free Online Greek Dictionary | billmounce.com
(1) pr. order, regular disposition; ornament, decoration, embellishment, 1 Pet. 3:3; (2) the world, the material universe, Mt. 13:35; the world, the aggregate of sensitive existence, 1 Cor. 4:9; the lower world, the earth, Mk. 16:15; the world, the aggregate of mankind, Mt.
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Blue Letter Bible
blueletterbible.org › lexicon › g2889 › kjv › tr › 0-1
G2889 - kosmos - Strong's Greek Lexicon (kjv)
G2889 - κόσμος kósmos, kos'-mos; probably from the base of ; orderly arrangement, i.e. decoration; by implication, the world (in a wide or narrow sense, including its inhabitants, literally or figuratively (morally)):—adorning, world.
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Cosmos
Cosmos - Wikipedia
September 25, 2025 - The cosmos (/ˈkɒzmɒs/, US also /-moʊs, -məs/; Ancient Greek: κόσμος, romanized: kósmos) is an alternative name for the universe or its nature or order. Usage of the word cosmos implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly ...
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Ezra Project
ezraproject.com › kosmos-what-in-the-world
Kosmos: What in the World? – Ezra Project
October 23, 2021 - In Greek, the most common word for “world” is kosmos (occurs 186 times). But that’s not the earliest meaning for the word.
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Translation
translation.bible › wp-content › uploads › 2024 › 06 › bratcher-1980-the-meaning-of-kosmos-world-in-the-new-testament.pdf pdf
The Meaning of Kosmos, “World”, in the New Testament
The basic idea of the Greek work kosmos is "order" or "arrangement"; so the · word may mean "adornment", as in 1 Pet 3.3, "outward adorning" (RSV;
Find elsewhere
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Bible Hub
biblehub.com › greek › 2886.htm
Strong's Greek: 2886. κοσμικός (kosmikos) -- Worldly, earthly
Original Word: κοσμικός Part of Speech: Adjective Transliteration: kosmikos Pronunciation: kos-mee-kos' Phonetic Spelling: (kos-mee-kos') KJV: worldly NASB: earthly, worldly Word Origin: [from G2889 (κόσμος - world) (in its secondary sense)] 1. worldy ("cosmic") 2. (literally) ...
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Quora
quora.com › What-is-the-difference-between-kosmos-and-universe-in-Greek
What is the difference between 'kosmos' and 'universe' in Greek? - Quora
Answer (1 of 5): “Κόσμος” ... meaning of the two words was quite different. KOSMOS : ornament, decoration, good behaviour, propriety, harmony, ORDER,......
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Translation
translation.bible › wp-content › uploads › 2024 › 06 › clark-1999-the-word-kosmos-world-in-john-17.pdf pdf
The Word Kosmos “World” in John 17 - UBS Translations
kosmos tes adikias (James 3.6), translated as "an unrighteous world" in · RSY, and "a world of wrong" in GNB. It seems at least possible that this · usage could be explained as a figurative extension of one of the other · meanings. Two of the remaining six meanings are alternative explanations · of a phrase in 1 Peter 3.3, which relates to female adornments. ... Aland Greek New Testament (27th edition, 1994).
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Bible Tools
bibletools.org › index.cfm › fuseaction › Lexicon.show › ID › G2889 › kosmos.htm
Strongs's #2889: kosmos - Greek/Hebrew Definitions - Bible Tools
Strong's #2889: kosmos (pronounced kos'-mos) · probably from the base of 2865; orderly arrangement, i.e. decoration; by implication, the world (in a wide or narrow sense, including its inhabitants, literally or figuratively (morally)):--adorning, world
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Bible.org
bible.org › illustration › world-kosmos
World (Kosmos) | Bible.org
February 2, 2009 - Merrill Unger made note of the fact that “In more than thirty important passages the Greek word ‘kosmos’...is employed in the New Testament to portray the whole mass of unregenerate men alienated from God, hostile to Christ, and organized governmentally as a system or federation under Satan (John 7:7; 14:27; I Cor.
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Bible Tools
bibletools.org › index.cfm › fuseaction › topical.show › RTD › cgg › ID › 2045 › Kosmos.htm
What the Bible says about Kosmos
What the Bible says about Kosmos (From Forerunner Commentary) · In Ephesians 2:2, Paul writes of "the course of this world." The Greek word kosmos, translated into the English word "world," essentially means an "orderly system." To human eyes beholding all the activity throughout the earth, ...
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Wiktionary
en.wiktionary.org › wiki › κόσμος
κόσμος - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Cognate with Mariupol Greek ко́смос (kósmos). ... Ζει σε άλλον κόσμο! Zei se állon kósmo! He lives in another world!
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Sage Journals
journals.sagepub.com › doi › abs › 10.1177 › 026009438003100406
The Meaning of Kosmos, “World”, in the New Testament - Robert G. Bratcher, 1980
Book Review: Cosmology in Outline: Fra Kaos til Kosmos: Verdensbilledets Historie Gennem 3000 År (From Chaos to Cosmos: The History of Cosmology during 3000 Years)
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SermonIndex.net
sermonindex.net › modules › articles › index.php
World (2889) kosmos - Sermon Index
Founded in 2002. The mission of SermonIndex is the preservation and propagation of classical Biblical preaching and the promotion of Christ-centered revival to this generation.
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Etymonline
etymonline.com › word › cosmos
Cosmos - Etymology, Origin & Meaning
c. 1200, "the universe, the world" (but not popular until 1848, when it was taken as the English equivalent to Humboldt's Kosmos in translations from German), from Latinized form of Greek kosmos "order, good order, orderly arrangement," a word ...
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Pastor Rev
pastorrev.com › home › word study
Word Study - Pastor Rev
April 25, 2024 - Pastor Rev's Response: The ancient ... has several meanings, primarily referring to “world” or “universe,” the earth, or the entirety of humanity in general....
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Bill Mounce
billmounce.com › greekvocabulary › κόσμος
Greek word for world, universe; humankind
August 19, 2023 - kosmo · Cognates: Cosmology is the philosophical study of the universe. Mnemonics: Cosmic, man! Out of this world! Mnemonic Singing: Joy to the world, the Lord is come; let earth receive her king. Verse: “For God so loved the κόσμος that he gave his one and only Son.” (John 3:16) ...