zeitgeist

WOTD – 23 October 2006

See also: Zeitgeist

English

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• Zeitgeist

Etymology

Borrowing from German Zeitgeist (“time-spirit”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation)¹ IPA^(key): /ˈtsaɪtɡaɪst/
• (Received Pronunciation)² IPA^(key): /ˈzaɪtɡaɪst/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Noun

zeitgeist (plural zeitgeists or zeitgeister)

1. The spirit of the age; the taste, outlook, and spirit characteristic of a period
   • 2014 February 10, Anthony Faiola, “Swiss vote to limit foreign workers captures growing European fears about immigration”, The Washington Post, accessed on 2014-02-11:

     The vote also stoked fears that Swiss citizens were reflecting the zeitgeist across Europe, …

Synonyms

• spiritus mundi
• temper of the times
• tenor of the times

Translations

the spirit of the age

• Arabic: روح العصر m (ruuH al-3aSr)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 時代精神, 时代精神 (zh) (shídài jīngshén)

• Danish: tidsånd
• Dutch: tijdgeest (nl) m
• Finnish: ajan henki
• French: esprit du temps m
• German: Zeitgeist (de) m
• Hebrew: צייטגייסט (tsáitgaist)

• Hungarian: korszellem (hu)
• Icelandic: tíðarandi m
• Japanese: 時代精神 (じだいせいしん, jidai-seishin)
• Luxembourgish: Zäitgeescht m
• Portuguese: zeitgeist m
• Russian: дух времени m (dux vrémeni)
• Serbo-Croatian: дух времена m, duh vremena m
• Spanish: ánimo de la época m
• Swedish: tidsanda (sv) c

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Portuguese

Noun

zeitgeist m (plural zeitgeists)

1. zeitgeist (the spirit of the age)