A person who is a citizen of the world and feels at home everywhere, regardless of nationality or cultural origin.
From Greek kosmos (world) + polis (citizen), with the -ite suffix indicating 'one who is.' This is an older form of 'cosmopolitan,' popular in the 18th and 19th centuries but less common today.
This word was the favorite of Enlightenment thinkers who believed nationality was less important than shared human values—people like Voltaire used it to describe the ideal educated person who transcended borders.
The term 'cosmopolite' carries similar historical gendering as 'cosmopolitan'—predominantly applied to male travelers, merchants, and philosophers. Women's cosmopolitan agency was categorized differently or erased.
Use with person-specific markers or diversify examples when discussing cosmopolites to include women's contributions.
["global citizen","transnational person"]
Women cosmopolites contributed to cross-cultural exchange, philosophy, and diplomacy; histories should center figures like Celia Fiennes (travel writer) and Émilie du Châtelet (polymath).
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