It's Merion Webster's word of the day for February 4th.

Today's word is today's word is Zite Gaber, also pronounced Zitegaber, and spelled Z-E-I-T-G-E-B-E-R.

Zite-G-E-R is a noun.

It refers to an environmental agent or event, such as the occurrence of light or dark,

that provides the stimulus which sets or resets and organisms biological clock.

Here's the word used in a sentence from the New York Times. resets and organisms biological clock.

Here's the word used in a sentence from the New York Times by Jenny O'Dell.

Which digital rhythms are we actively following because they make us feel good and which are we entrained to.

Entrainment, a term that originated in biology and then spread to the social sciences,

refers to the alignment of an organism's physiology or behavior with a cycle.

The most familiar example would be our circadian rhythm.

The signal driving entrainment, in this case light and dark, is called a Zitegaber.

Zitegabers are alarm clocks, both biologically and etymology.

The word Zitegabber comes from a combination of two German terms,

zeit meaning time, and geeber meaning giver. In nature, zeitgabers tend to be cyclic or recurring patterns that help keep the body's

circadian rhythms operating in an orderly way. For earthlings of all kinds, the daily pattern of light and darkness and the warmer and colder

temperatures between day and night serve as zykebers, cues that keep organisms functioning on a regular schedule.

Consider how the changing ratio of day to night in spring serves as a trigger for critters,

such as birds and spring peepers to sing their mating songs.

For humans, societally imposed cycles such as the schedule of the work or school day and regular

meal times can become zitegabers as well. What you sing is up to you, however.

With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski. Visit Merriam Webster. Visit Marion Webster

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