Gestalten

Part of speech: noun, plural

Definitions

1. To form or shape something into a coherent whole, to organize elements into a meaningful pattern, or to influence perception through structured arrangement
2. To conceive or mold parts into an integrated entity, to arrange components systematically, or to guide the interpretation of sensory information by emphasizing patterns
3. To assemble or construct in a deliberate form, to design with a specific structure or configuration, or to affect the way elements are experienced by creating unified patterns

Etymology: This is the plural of "gestalt," which English borrowed from German, where it means "shape, figure, form." German "Gestalt" comes from the same root as the verb "stellen," "to place or set," so a shape was originally something set into a particular arrangement. The German noun grew out of "gestalten," a verb meaning to form or fashion, and that verb is the source of the plural spelling used in English. English speakers adopted the singular "gestalt" to name whole patterns that the mind perceives as more than the sum of their parts, such as a melody recognised regardless of key, or a face seen in clouds. The plural "gestalten" is the form used when discussing several such unified patterns at once, most often in psychology and philosophy of perception.

Synonyms: forms, shapes, patterns, figures