A ghost or spirit, or the characteristic spirit or essence of something (borrowed from German philosophy).
From Old High German 'geist' and Old Saxon 'gist', ultimately from Latin 'gesta' meaning 'things done' or 'deeds', evolved to mean 'spirit' or 'ghost' in Germanic languages.
German philosophers loved this word—Hegel and others used 'Geist' to mean the world-spirit or consciousness of history itself, making it way more profound than just 'ghost', and it shaped how we think about culture and ideas.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.