In a more restricted sense, that part of the earth and its
   concerns which is known to any one, or contemplated by any one; a
   division of the globe, or of its inhabitants; human affairs as seen
   from a certain position, or from a given point of view; also, state of
   existence; scene of life and action; as, the Old World; the New World;
   the religious world; the Catholic world; the upper world; the future
   world; the heathen world.