In psychology, a gestalt is something that has particular qualities when you consider it as a whole which are not obvious when you consider only the separate parts of it.
[technical]
...the visual strength of the gestalt.
Gestalt in British English
(ɡəˈʃtælt)
nounWord forms: plural-stalts or -stalten (-ˈʃtæltən)
(sometimes not capital)
a perceptual pattern or structure possessing qualities as a whole that cannot be described merely as a sum of its parts
Word origin
C20: German: form, from Old High German stellen to shape
gestalt in American English
(gəˈʃtɑlt; gəˈstɑlt; gəˈʃtɔlt; gəˈstɔlt)
nounWord forms: pluralgeˈstalten (gəˈʃtɑltən; gəˈstɑltən; gəˈʃtɔltən; gəˈstɔltən) or geˈstalts
[alsoG-]
in Gestalt psychology, any of the integrated structures or patterns that make up all experience and have specific properties which can neither be derived from the elements of the whole nor considered simply as the sum of these elements
Word origin
Ger, lit., shape, form < MHG pp. of stellen, to arrange, fix