zeitgeist
/ˈzaɪtˌɡaɪst/noun
zeitgeist is spelled Z-E-I-T-G-E-I-S-T: 9 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,416th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, zeitgeist means “The spirit of the age; the taste, outlook, and spirit characteristic of a period” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of zeitgeist is zeitgeists or zeitgeister; Wiktionary also lists zeitgeisten (rare).
How many letters and syllables are in zeitgeist?
| Letters | 9: Z-E-I-T-G-E-I-S-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 38,416th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is zeitgeist?
Zeitgeist appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,416th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce zeitgeist?
- US /ˈzaɪtˌɡaɪst/
- /ˈtsaɪtˌɡaɪst/
Zeitgeist has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-zeitgeist.ogg, En-uk-zeitgeist.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of zeitgeist
- zeitgeists plural
- zeitgeister plural
- zeitgeisten plural, rare
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does zeitgeist mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The spirit of the age; the taste, outlook, and spirit characteristic of a period.
noun
- 1
Alternative letter-case form of zeitgeist.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Zeitgeist in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the spirit of the age:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | esprit du temps, air du temps, zeitgeist |
| German | Zeitgeist |
| Portuguese | espírito do tempo, zeitgeist |
| Spanish | ánimo de la época, espíritu de la época |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does zeitgeist come from?
Unadapted borrowing from German Zeitgeist (literally “spirit of the age”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).