Volksgeistn.
/ˈfɒlksɡʌɪst/, /ˈvɒlksɡʌɪst/, /ˈvəʊksɡʌɪst/, U.S. /ˈvoʊ(l)ksˌɡaɪst/, /ˈfoʊ(l)ksˌɡaɪst/, /ˈfɔlksˌɡaɪst/, /ˈvɔlksˌɡaɪst/ The defining spirit or character of a particular nation or people. Cf. zeitgeist n.The article cited at quot. 1839 is translated from German.
ΘΠ
society > society and the community > customs, values, and civilization > a civilization or culture > [noun] > characteristic spirit or ethos
social character1754
ethos1842
eidos1936
1839 Era 9 June 441/1 How unsavoury must the effects of occurrences appear to us, which in their origin and form are merely the repetition of accidents in foreign countries, where the history and popular spirit (Volksgeist) differ so much from the German national?]
1878 J. D. Morell Philos. Fragm. iii. iii. 259 Goethe, Schiller,..and many others of the same stamp were scarcely..scholars... They were rather the exponents of the Zeitgeist and the Volksgeist.
1977 D. Watkin Morality & Archit. iii. i. 79 Our fundamental concern is..with the impression left by the emphasis on national character or Volksgeist as a determinant of artistic style.
2022 L. Patton in A. T. Tuboly Hist. Understanding in Analytic Philos. (e-book, accessed 14 Apr. 2022) ii Even as individuals transcend the Volksgeist, their particular way of transcending becomes part of the Volksgeist.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2022).
> as lemmas
Volksgeist
Volksgeist n. /ˈfɔlksɡaist/ the spirit or genius which marks the thought or feeling of a nation or people.
ΚΠ
1936 L. Wirth & E. A. Shils tr. K. Mannheim Ideol. & Utopia ii. 59 During this period the Volksgeist, ‘folk spirit’, comes to represent the historically differentiated elements of consciousness.
1977 D. Watkin Morality & Archit. iii. i. 79 Our fundamental concern is..with the impression left by the emphasis on national character or Volksgeist as a determinant of artistic style.
<
n.1878as lemmas