gestalt
[ guh-shtahlt, -shtawlt, -stahlt, -stawlt ]
/ gəˈʃtɑlt, -ˈʃtɔlt, -ˈstɑlt, -ˈstɔlt /
noun, plural ge·stalts, ge·stal·ten [guh-shtahl-tn, -shtawl-, -stahl-, -stawl-] /gəˈʃtɑl tn, -ˈʃtɔl-, -ˈstɑl-, -ˈstɔl-/. (sometimes initial capital letter) Psychology.
a configuration, pattern, or organized field having specific properties that cannot be derived from the summation of its component parts; a unified whole.
an instance or example of such a unified whole.
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Origin of gestalt
1920–25; < German: figure, form, structure
Words nearby gestalt
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for gestalt
British Dictionary definitions for gestalt
Gestalt
/ (ɡəˈʃtælt) /
noun 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 partsSee also Gestalt psychology
Word Origin for Gestalt
C20: German: form, from Old High German stellen to shape
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Medical definitions for gestalt
gestalt
n. pl. ge•stalts
A physical, biological, psychological, or symbolic configuration or pattern of elements so unified as a whole that its properties cannot be derived from a simple summation of its parts.gestalt phenomenon
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.