gestalt

[guh-shtahlt, -shtawlt, -stahlt, -stawlt]

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.

Origin of gestalt

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for gestalt

shape, composition, structure, contour, disposition, figure, form, outline, Gestalt

Examples from the Web for gestalt

Contemporary Examples of gestalt

But on Wednesday, here was the White House to remind you that an MC is more than the gestalt of his lyrics.
The GOP's Hypocrisy Over Rapper Common's White House Invite
Chris Lee
May 11, 2011

Historical Examples of gestalt

Momentarily, the gestalt fails, but the true moment of sight passes.
Warm
Robert Sheckley
His interest was not in Gestalt or fixed form, Bildung or form change.
Form and Function
E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell
The cognitive sum total is of a Gestalt nature-much higher than the sum of its parts.
The Civilization of Illiteracy
Mihai Nadin
Perls transformed the Gestalt psychologists' central idea so it would serve as a basis for his approach to psychotherapy.
When You Don't Know Where to Turn
Steven J. Bartlett
If his action is successful, his Gestalt is closed: the problem is resolved, and the motivation is fulfilled.
When You Don't Know Where to Turn
Steven J. Bartlett

British Dictionary definitions for gestalt

Gestalt

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for gestalt

Gestalt

1922, from German Gestaltqualität (1890, introduced by German philosopher Christian von Ehrenfels, 1859-1932), from German gestalt "shape, form, figure, configuration, appearance," abstracted from ungestalt "deformity," noun use of adj. ungestalt "misshapen," from gestalt, obsolete past participle of stellen "to place, arrange" (see stall (n.1)). As a school of psychology, it was founded c.1912 by M Wertheimer, K. Koffka, W. Köhler.

gestalt in Medicine

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