zeitgeber

[ tsahyt-gey-ber ]

noun
  1. an environmental cue, as the length of daylight or the degree of temperature, that helps to regulate the cycles of an organism's biological clock.

Origin of zeitgeber

1
First recorded in 1970–75; from German (1954), literally, “time-giver,” on the model of Taktgeber “electronic synchronization device, timer, metronome”

Words Nearby zeitgeber

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024