Word.ws English Dictionary

Apparatgeist

Apparatgeist noun: the inherent properties of a device which affect the way it is used by individuals across cultures.

Noun

Apparatgeist (uncountable)

  1. The inherent properties of a device which affect the way it is used by individuals across cultures.
    • A few years ago such questions provoked academic controversy. Not everybody agrees with Ms Ito's argument that technology is always socially constructed. James Katz, a professor of communication at Rutgers University in New Jersey, argues that there is an Apparatgeist (German for "spirit of the...2009 December 30, James E. Katz, quotee, “The Apparatgeist calls”, in The Economist, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 09 Mar 2023
    • In constructing such a multiscalar approach, I want to draw upon the same insight that informed the theory of Apparatgeist, which James E. Katz and Mark Aakhus proposed to define as referring to 'the common set of strategies or principles of reasoning about technology evident in the identifiable...2012, Imar O. de Vries, Tantalisingly Close: An Archaeology of Communication Desires in Discourses of Mobile Wireless Media, Amsterdam University Press, →ISBN, page 95

Examples of Apparatgeist in a sentence

  • James Katz, a professor of communication at Rutgers University in New Jersey, argues that there is an Apparatgeist (German for "spirit of the machine").2009 December 30, James E. Katz, quotee, “The Apparatgeist calls”, in The Economist, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived...
  • In constructing such a multiscalar approach, I want to draw upon the same insight that informed the theory of Apparatgeist, which James E.2012, Imar O. de Vries, Tantalisingly Close: An Archaeology of Communication Desires in Discourses of Mobile Wireless Media, Amsterdam...

Origin of Apparatgeist

Pseudo-Germanism, derived from Apparat (“apparatus, device, machine”) + Geist (“spirit”). Perhaps influenced by zeitgeist. Coined by American communications academic James E. Katz.

Questions about Apparatgeist

What does Apparatgeist mean?
Apparatgeist means the inherent properties of a device which affect the way it is used by individuals across cultures.
How do you use Apparatgeist in a sentence?
James Katz, a professor of communication at Rutgers University in New Jersey, argues that there is an Apparatgeist (German for "spirit of the machine").
What part of speech is Apparatgeist?
Apparatgeist is a noun.

Words near Apparatgeist in the dictionary

  1. apparatchiki
  2. apparatchiks
  3. apparate
  4. apparated
  5. apparates
  6. Apparatgeist
  7. apparati
  8. apparating
  9. apparation
  10. apparations
  11. apparator

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Apparatgeist (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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