zeitgeber

[ tsahyt-gey-ber ]

noun

1. an environmental cue, as the length of daylight or the degree of temperature, that helps to regulate the cycles of an organism's biological clock.

Word History and Origins

Origin of zeitgeber¹

First recorded in 1970–75; from German (1954), literally, “time-giver,” on the model of Taktgeber “electronic synchronization device, timer, metronome”

Example Sentences

Back in 1976 Burkhard Pflug, a psychiatrist at the University of Tubingen in Germany, wrote that sleep deprivation might behave like a “zeitgeber,” or “time giver,” in people with depression and resynchronize aberrant brain rhythms.

From Scientific American

The new findings may offer targets for reviving the zeitgeber in depression in accessible ways.

From Scientific American

Light acts as a “zeitgeber,” a natural cue to our bodies’ circadian rhythms.

From New York Times

Historically, for C. marinus ‘zeitgeber time 0’ is defined as the middle of the dark phase.

From Nature

Historically, for C. marinus ‘zeitgeber time 0’ is defined as the middle of the dark phase.

From Nature