# zeitgeist
## English
### Alternative forms

* Zeitgeist

### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from German Zeitgeist (literally “spirit of the age”).

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA: /ˈzaɪtˌɡaɪst/
* (learned) IPA: /ˈtsaɪtˌɡaɪst/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (UK):(file)
* Audio (General Australian):(file)

### Noun

zeitgeist (plural zeitgeists or zeitgeister or zeitgeisten)
* The spirit of the age; the taste, outlook, and spirit characteristic of a period.
    Synonyms: spiritus mundi, temper of the times, tenor of the times, time spirit, time-spirit
** 1958, Martin Luther King Jr., “Rosa Parks' Arrest”, in Stride Toward Freedom:She was anchored to that seat by the accumulated indignities of days gone by and the boundless aspirations of generations yet unborn. She was a victim of both the forces of history and the forces of destiny. She had been tracked down by the Zeitgeist—the spirit of the time.
** 1996, Michael Vanden Heuvel, Elmer Rice: A Research and Production Sourcebook, Greenwood Publishing Group, →ISBN:After quickly summarizing the zeitgeisten of the Greek, Elizabethan, and early modern periods and their effects on the theatre, Rice turns to the contemporary world.
** 2007 December 9, Scott Timberg, quoting Annalee Newitz, “The descent of a sci-fi guru”, in Los Angeles Times‎:[Robert] Heinlein’s gift was to catch the zeitgeist. “That’s what made him so successful, but it makes his work seem dated.”
** 2014 February 10, Anthony Faiola, “Swiss vote to limit foreign workers captures growing European fears about immigration”, in The Washington Post‎, archived from the original on 2014-02-11:The vote also stoked fears that Swiss citizens were reflecting the zeitgeist across Europe, where right-wing populists increasingly are seizing the spotlight with an anti-immigration political agenda.

#### Usage notes

* The German term, Zeitgeist, is not commonly pluralized. Geist (“ghost, spirit”) however has the plural Geister.

#### Derived terms

* zeitgeisty

#### See also

* sign of the times

### Further reading

* zeitgeist on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

## Danish
### Alternative forms

* Zeitgeist

### Etymology

From German Zeitgeist.

### Noun

zeitgeist c (singular definite zeitgeisten, not used in plural form)
* zeitgeist
** 2013, Lars Holger Holm, Kenneth Maximilian Geneser, Gotisk, →ISBN, page 140:De bliver dermed til et fænomen i tiden, til tidsbilleder, som kan tydes og bruges i en afsøgning af zeitgeisten.They thus become a phenomenon of the time, time-images, that may be deciphered and used in an investigation of the zeitgeist.
** 2010, Henrik List, Sidste nat i kødbyen, Lindhardt og Ringhof, →ISBN:Og hvem ville så bryde sig om at være lyseslukker til zeitgeistens swingerfest? Hvem ville så sige nej tak til en plads i VIP-afdelingen til den store, subkulturelle love-in?And who would then like to be a party-pooper at the swinger's party of the zeitgeist? Who would then refuse a spot in the VIP section at the big, subcultural love-in?

#### Synonyms

* tidsånd

## Portuguese
### Etymology

Borrowed from German Zeitgeist.

### Noun

zeitgeist m (plural zeitgeists)
* (sociology) zeitgeist (the dominant set of ideals and beliefs of an era)