Etymology

gestalt

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Today it means: A collection of physical, biological, psychological or symbolic elements that creates a whole, unified concept or pattern which is other than the sum of its parts due to the relationships between the parts (of a character, personality, entity, or being). [simplified] An organized whole that is perceived as more than the sum of its parts. Full definition →

German Gestalt ← Middle High German gestalt ← Old High German stellen
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*stel-
  2. Proto-West Germanic*stalljan
  3. Old High Germanstellen
  4. Middle High Germanstellen
  5. Middle High Germangestalt
  6. GermanGestalt
  7. English todaygestalt

Borrowed from German Gestalt (“shape, figure, form”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.