Wiktionary

zeitgeist

See also: Zeitgeist

English edit

WOTD – 23 October 2006

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

Unadapted borrowing from German Zeitgeist (literally “time-spirit”).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

zeitgeist (plural zeitgeists or zeitgeister or zeitgeisten)

  1. The spirit of the age; the taste, outlook, and spirit characteristic of a period.
    Synonyms: spiritus mundi, temper of the times, tenor of the times, time spirit, time-spirit
    • 1958, Martin Luther King Jr., “Rosa Parks' Arrest”, in Stride Toward Freedom:
      She was anchored to that seat by the accumulated indignities of days gone by and the boundless aspirations of generations yet unborn. She was a victim of both the forces of history and the forces of destiny. She had been tracked down by the Zeitgeist—the spirit of the time.
    • 1996, Michael Vanden Heuvel, Elmer Rice: A Research and Production Sourcebook, Greenwood Publishing Group, →ISBN:
      After quickly summarizing the zeitgeisten of the Greek, Elizabethan, and early modern periods and their effects on the theatre, Rice turns to the contemporary world.
    • 2007 December 9, Scott Timberg, quoting Annalee Newitz, “The descent of a sci-fi guru”, in Los Angeles Times‎[1]:
      [Robert] Heinlein’s gift was to catch the zeitgeist. “That’s what made him so successful, but it makes his work seem dated.”
    • 2014 February 10, Anthony Faiola, “Swiss vote to limit foreign workers captures growing European fears about immigration”, in The Washington Post‎[2], archived from the original on 2014-02-11:
      The vote also stoked fears that Swiss citizens were reflecting the zeitgeist across Europe, where right-wing populists increasingly are seizing the spotlight with an anti-immigration political agenda.

Usage notes edit

  • The German term, Zeitgeist, is commonly not pluralized. Geist (“ghost, spirit”) however has the plural Geister.

Derived terms edit

Translations edit

See also edit

Further reading edit

Danish edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From German Zeitgeist.

Noun edit

zeitgeist c (singular definite zeitgeisten, not used in plural form)

  1. zeitgeist
    • 2013, Lars Holger Holm, Kenneth Maximilian Geneser, Gotisk, →ISBN, page 140:
      De bliver dermed til et fænomen i tiden, til tidsbilleder, som kan tydes og bruges i en afsøgning af zeitgeisten.
      They thus become a phenomenon of the time, time-images, that may be deciphered and used in an investigation of the zeitgeist.
    • 2010, Henrik List, Sidste nat i kødbyen, Lindhardt og Ringhof, →ISBN:
      Og hvem ville så bryde sig om at være lyseslukker til zeitgeistens swingerfest? Hvem ville så sige nej tak til en plads i VIP-afdelingen til den store, subkulturelle love-in?
      And who would then like to be a party-pooper at the swinger's party of the zeitgeist? Who would then refuse a spot in the VIP section at the big, subcultural love-in?

Declension edit

Declension of zeitgeist
common
gender 		Singular
indefinite definite
nominative zeitgeist zeitgeisten
genitive zeitgeists zeitgeistens

Synonyms edit

Portuguese edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from German Zeitgeist.

Noun edit

zeitgeist m (plural zeitgeists)

  1. (sociology) zeitgeist (the dominant set of ideals and beliefs of an era)
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