What is the meaning of Zeitgeist?

Question

The book Im reading, Thicker Than Water, takes place in New York City during the present time. What would be the zeitgeist - well, what is the meaning of zeitgeist? Thanks! (Oh, and can you put it in terms a 13 year old would understand? haha)

Answer 1

Dictionary.com:

The spirit of the time; general trend of thought or feeling characteristic of a particular period of time.  

Answer 2

Literally, Geist is ghost or spirit and Zeit is news.

It means the Spirit of the Times

Answer 3

Zeitgeist....is defined as the sign of the times.  

Zeitgeist the movie suggests by way of historical documentation that our existance runs in a cycle and that the cycle repeats itself every 2000 years.  

It's uncanny how accurate this information is and based upon this accuracy suggests we can predict what can happen next.  

The narrator suggests that our ancestors were more aware of this cycle and more accepting of it. Whereas today, our religious differences are causing death and destruction all over the world.

The zeitgeist for the past 2000 years would be domination. to dominate through religion and politics.

Answer 4

It means "the spirit of the age".

Answer 5

Zeitgeist is a German word

Zeit=time

Geist=mind

Zeitgeist=mind of the time or better phrased in English as Spirit of the Age/ Times

For a 13 yr old, it's closely means what everyone is thinking and feeling about.

Example(I haven't used the word in a sentence before, so I won't recommend you following the structure. These are just to show how they can be used to express ideas):

1. The Zeitgeist of fashion has changed every 10 years since the 1970s.

2.Today's Zeitgeist is shaped a lot by Apple's iPhone, iMac and Macbook line.

3.Anger was the Zeitgeist when Pearl Harbour was attacked during World War 2.

I would say that the Zeitgeist has been all about material and behavioural makeovers for the individual as well as the creation of a shared culture of a global elite(i.e. hip-hop funk, more people living abroad at a younger age, people around the world caring about the brands they have on them than where they were made).

It seems to have shifted from building up nations everywhere. In the 90s, more news was made over economic development than the latest product from Apple.

One last thing about Zeitgeist. Some German philosophers think that Zeitgeists get replaced after some time.

Hope this helps.

Answer 6

It means the spirit of the time. like the attitudes of a certain period of time.

Answer 7

It's from German and means "spirit of the age"

Answer 8

I agree with most of the other definitions, but I do not see why a 13 year old, necessarily could not understand Hegel.  

Answer 9

"the spirit of the age"

Answer 10

In simple terms:

It's a German phrase (zeit = time, geist = spirit), which refers to the prevailing way of thought of a particular group of people at a particular time in history.  

Wikipedia's entry for Zeitgeist is short, and decent.  A 13 year old won't get all the references to Hegel, but that's ok.  You can get the basic idea here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeitgeist

Answer 11

It's translated into "the spirit of the age"

Answer 12

Zeitgeist is German for "the spirit of the age". Time (Zeit) Spirit (Geist).

Zeitgeist is a translation of genius seculi (Latin: genius - "guardian spirit" and saeculi - "of the century").

Pronounced: tsahyt-gahyst

"What would you say the zeitgeist of the 2000s is?"

The spirit of the time.