gestalt

American  

[guh-shtahlt, -shtawlt, -stahlt, -stawlt] / gəˈʃtɑlt, -ˈʃtɔlt, -ˈstɑlt, -ˈstɔlt /

noun

(sometimes initial capital letter)

plural

gestalts, gestalten

1. a configuration, pattern, or organized field having specific properties that cannot be derived from the summation of its component parts; a unified whole.

2. an instance or example of such a unified whole.

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Gestalt British  

/ ɡəˈʃtælt /

noun

1. (sometimes not capital) a perceptual pattern or structure possessing qualities as a whole that cannot be described merely as a sum of its parts See also Gestalt psychology

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Etymology

Origin of gestalt

1920–25; < German: figure, form, structure

Explanation

A gestalt has two or more parts (like figure and ground) that are so integrated together that we perceive them as one object. Think of teaching "the whole child," and you have the idea behind gestalt. The perception of oneness from many is the basis of gestalt. It derived from the 1890 German philosophy of Gestaltqualität, meaning "form or shape," which explored the idea of perception. For example, a picture might have several separate parts that work together to form one perceived image. The area of gestalt psychology developed in 1912, focusing on the various aspects of a person and how they combine into a whole that affects that person's relationship with his or her environment.

Example Sentences

And if you take things out, you’re losing the power of the gestalt, essentially, of the larger gesture that they made.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 6, 2025

On the title track, listeners are greeted with glitchy vocal samples before Joachim puts new elements into the gestalt, and quickly.

From New York Times • Feb. 29, 2024

The guides, it said, reflect “the whole gestalt of India’s association with sky and space.”

From Science Magazine • Nov. 7, 2023

"Almost no individual element of this was original—beans and greens have been the stuff of dinner since beans and greens began—and yet the gestalt had something to it, something unexpectedly right."

From Salon • Jan. 16, 2023

It was the creation of the gestalt Bobby needed to prove to himself that he was capable of dominance.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Related Words

• composition
• contour
• shape
• structure