Word of the Day

: March 8, 2024

Weltanschauung

noun VELT-ahn-show-ung ("ow" as in "cow")

What It Means

A Weltanschauung is a worldview; in other words, a comprehensive conception or apprehension of the world especially from a specific standpoint. The word is typically capitalized.

// Many people disagree with the writer's personal Weltanschauung, but most can appreciate the quality and thoughtfulness of her work.

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Weltanschauung in Context

"[Writer Martin] Amis' subject matter was unforgiving: the degradation of individual values and the incorporation of greed, indifference and cruelty into public morality. But so intense was his focus, and so forensic the methodology he brought to his task, that each novel revealed some new facet of his ever-darkening Weltanschauung." — The Southland Times (New Zealand), 24 May 2023

Did You Know?

The German word Weltanschauung literally means "world view"; it combines Welt, meaning "world," with Anschauung, meaning "view." (You might have noticed this word’s resemblance to another German borrowing, weltschmerz, meaning “world-weariness” or “world-pain”). When English speakers first adopted Weltanschauung in the mid-19th century, it referred to a philosophical view or apprehension of the universe, and this sense is still the most widely used. It can also describe a more general ideology or philosophy of life. Note that the word is typically capitalized in English, as all nouns are in German.