Zeitgeist

\ˈʦaɪ̯tɡaɪ̯st\

/\ˈʦaɪ̯tɡaɪ̯st\/ noun

The verdict

“Zeitgeist” is uncommon French (frequency #99,779 among 240 “Z” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#99,779
frequency rank, French
240
“Z” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Esprit du temps, ambiance intellectuelle et spirituelle d’une époque.

Corpus desk

Index FR-zeitgeist · Zeitgeist · French

Zeitgeist · rank #99,779 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #99,779
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 240
  • PHOTO-FINISH zigzaguer

Nearest frequency peer: zigzaguer (+1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rangs de longue queue près de « Zeitgeist »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « Zeitgeist » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Zeitgeist
PropertyValue
HeadwordZeitgeist
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ˈʦaɪ̯tɡaɪ̯st\
Letters9
Frequency rank#99,779
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « Zeitgeist » en français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.Zeitgeisttombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Voisins rares de la même bande: « zigzaguer » (#99,780), « zoome » (#99,781), « yugo » (#99,776). Parmi 240 lemmes en « Z », « Zeitgeist » est au #99,779. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Zeitgeist is uncommon French at frequency #99,779 among 240 “Z” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ˈʦaɪ̯tɡaɪ̯st\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Esprit du temps, ambiance intellectuelle et spirituelle d’une époque.".

No misspelling variants are generated for Zeitgeist in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is Zeitgeist, spelled Z-E-I-T-G-E-I-S-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Esprit du temps, ambiance intellectuelle et spirituelle d’une époque.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Zeitgeist"?
"Zeitgeist" is spelled Z-E-I-T-G-E-I-S-T. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈʦaɪ̯tɡaɪ̯st\.
What does "Zeitgeist" mean?
As a noun, "Zeitgeist" means: Esprit du temps, ambiance intellectuelle et spirituelle d’une époque.
How do you pronounce "Zeitgeist"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Zeitgeist" is \ˈʦaɪ̯tɡaɪ̯st\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Zeitgeist" come from?
"Zeitgeist" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Zeitgeist", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list