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/ˈtsaɪtˌgaɪst/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[tsahyt-gahyst] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation | the spirit of the time; general trend of thought or feeling characteristic of a particular period of time. |
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
Zeit·geist (tsīt'gīst', zīt'-) Pronunciation Key n. The spirit of the time; the taste and outlook characteristic of a period or generation: "It's easy to see how a student . . . in the 1940's could imbibe such notions. The Zeitgeist encouraged Philosopher-Kings" (James Atlas).minmax_bound="true"> [German : Zeit, time (from Middle High German zīt, from Old High German; see dā- in Indo-European roots) + Geist, spirit; see poltergeist.] |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| zeitgeist | |
noun | |
| the spirit of the time; the spirit characteristic of an age or generation |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
The general moral, intellectual, and cultural climate of an era; Zeitgeist is German for time-spirit. For example, the Zeitgeist of England in the Victorian period included a belief in industrial progress, and the Zeitgeist of the 1980s in the United States was a belief in the power of money and the many ways in which to spend it.
| The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
| The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. |
zeitgeist
Zeitgeist was Word of the Day on July 22, 1999.
| Dictionary.com Word of the Day |