Etymograph

English

geist

Geist comes from German Geist ‘spirit, ghost, mind’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰóysdos ‘anger, agitation’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰóysdos1‘anger, agitation’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gaistaz1‘spirit, ghost’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gaist1‘ghost, spirit’reconstructed
  4. Old High Germanc. 750–1050geist1‘spirit’
  5. Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350geist1
  6. Germanc. 1650–presentGeist2‘spirit, ghost, mind’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1877geist2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, German Geist
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English geist
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1877, The spiritual magazine:: “The geists eat and drink, but only as geists…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰóysdosWiktionary, German Geist‘anger, agitation’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gaistazWiktionary, German Geist‘spirit, ghost’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gaistWiktionary, German Geist‘ghost, spirit’reconstructed
  4. Old High Germanc. 750–1050geistWiktionary, German Geist‘spirit’
  5. Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350geistWiktionary, German Geist
  6. Germanc. 1650–presentGeistWiktionary, English geist‘spirit, ghost, mind’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1877geistWiktionary, English geist. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1877, The spiritual magazine:: “The geists eat and drink, but only as geists…”

Linked words

through Proto-West Germanic *gaist ‘ghost, spirit’

ghost, 1 more

Today it means

noun A ghost, an apparition.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “geist”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for German Geist. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰóysdos / geist

Shirt and support for this word