Geist

English

Alternative form

• geist

Etymology

From German Geist (“spirit, ghost, mind”), see below

Noun

geist (plural geists)

1. a ghost, apparition, the spirit of an individual or group

   • 1881, M.T.W., Connor Magan's Luck and Other Stories^[1], edition reprint, Project Gutenberg, published 2005:

     Koerg was not slow to recognize a geist; his knees shook, and he dared not utter a word.

   • 1913, James Francis Cooke, Great Pianists on Piano Playing^[2], edition reprint, Project Gutenberg, published 2009:

     The average virtuoso thinks far more of his "geist," his "talent" (or as Emerson would have it, "the shadow of the soul--the otherwise") than he does of his technic, or his cadenzas.

   • 2009 Tuesday, 13 October, Adam Curtis, Lee Ravitz (comment), “Kabul: City Number One - Part 3”, BBC:

     ... particular 'culture areas' of the world are dominated by their own peculiar geist or 'cultural soul' ...

Usage Note

In English, the 'g' in geist may be lowercase.

References

• OED, geist

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German

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɡaɪ̯st/

• Audio (Austria)

  (file)

Noun

Geist m. (genitive Geistes, plural Geister)

1. Spirit
2. Ghost
3. Mind
4. Essence
5. An alcoholic drink; a spirit
6. wit

Declension

(alcoholic drink)

declension of Geist

	singular			plural
m. gender	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Geist	die	Geiste
genitive	eines	des	Geistes, Geists	der	Geiste
dative	einem	dem	Geist, Geiste (archaic)	den	Geisten
accusative	einen	den	Geist	die	Geiste

(all other senses)

declension of Geist

	singular			plural
m. gender	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Geist	die	Geister
genitive	eines	des	Geistes, Geists	der	Geister
dative	einem	dem	Geist, Geiste (archaic)	den	Geistern
accusative	einen	den	Geist	die	Geister

Derived terms

• den Geist aufgeben
• Heiliger Geist
• Poltergeist
• Teamgeist
• Zeitgeist
• Geisterfahrer m.
• Geisterstadt f.
• Geisterschiff n.
• Geisterhaus n.
• Geisterzug m.

Related terms

• begeistern
• rumgeistern
• herumgeistern