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Zeit·geist      [tsahyt-gahyst] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun German.
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.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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.]

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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 - Cite This Source - Share This
zeitgeist 
1848, from Ger. Zeitgeist, lit. "spirit of the age," from Zeit "time" (see tide) + Geist "spirit" (see ghost).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
zeitgeist

noun
the spirit of the time; the spirit characteristic of an age or generation 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
Zeitgeist [(tseyt-geyst, zeyt-geyst)]

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.


[Chapter:] World Literature, Philosophy, and Religion


The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Zeit·geist (tstgst, zt-)
n.

The taste, outlook, and spirit characteristic of a period or generation.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Dictionary.com Word of the Day Archive - Cite This Source - Share This

zeitgeist

Zeitgeist was Word of the Day on July 22, 1999.

Dictionary.com Word of the Day