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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

Zeit·geist

Audio Help [tsahyt-gahyst] Pronunciation Key

–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.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
zeitgeist

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Zeit·geist Audio Help (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).

[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).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

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

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.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Zeitgeist

Zeit"geist`\, n. [G.; zeit time + geist spirit. See Tide, n.; Ghost, n.] The spirit of the time; the general intellectual and moral state or temper characteristic of any period of time.

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zeitgeist

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

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