Polyglot Dictionary

Zeitgeist

/ˈtsaɪ̯tˌɡaɪ̯st/

der noun C1

der (masc.) die (fem.) das (neut.)

Underline = a spelling pattern that usually signals that gender.

N Register Neutral Era Current Frequency Academic Domain General Tone Neutral

Meaning

  1. zeitgeist, the defining spirit or mood of a particular era

    Another German compound borrowed directly into English, unusually without translation.

    • Der Film trifft genau den Zeitgeist.

      The film captures the zeitgeist exactly.

N Category Thing Concreteness Concrete Animacy Inanimate Countability Countable Scope Individual

Made of

  • Zeit time
  • Geist spirit, mind

Similar words

Mode

Mode (fashion, trend) is a specific, often short-lived craze. Zeitgeist is deeper and broader: the underlying intellectual and cultural mood of a whole era, which many individual Moden can express.

Practice

1 What does Zeitgeist mean?

2 Fill the gap: Der Film trifft genau den ___.

3 Which fingerprint chart matches Zeitgeist?

See also

nouncompoundabstractloanword-in-english

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