However, its special meaning of " mind, intellect" never shared by English ghost is acquired only in the 18th century, under the influence of French esprit. The German noun much like English spirit could refer to spooks or ghostly apparitions of the dead, to the religious concept, as in the Holy Spirit, as well as to the "spirit of wine", i.e. The English word is in competition with Latinate spirit from the Middle English period, but its broader meaning is preserved well into the early modern period. Poltergeist (Noisy/Disruptive Geist) is a common interchangable term. English ghastly) apparitions or ghosts, and may also have carried the connotation of "ecstatic agitation, furor" related to the cult of Germanic Mercury.Īs the translation of biblical Latin spiritus (Greek πνεῦμα) " spirit, breath" the Germanic word acquires a Christian meaning from an early time, notably in reference to the Holy Spirit (Old English sē hālga gāst "the Holy Ghost", OHG ther heilago geist, Modern German der Heilige Geist). Its derivation from a PIE root g̑heis- "to be agitated, frightened" suggests that the Germanic word originally referred to frightening (c.f. It is the direct cognate of English ghost, from a West Germanic gaistaz. German Geist (masculine gender: der Geist) continues Old High German geist, attested as the translation of Latin spiritus. Further information: Spirit (animating force), Pneuma, Psyche (psychology), and Soul
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