"Zettelkasten" meaning in All languages combined

See Zettelkasten on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

Forms: Zettelkastens [plural], zettelkasten [alternative]
Etymology: Borrowed from German Zettelkasten (literally “a slip box”). Etymology templates: {{bor+|en|de|Zettelkasten|lit=a slip box}} Borrowed from German Zettelkasten (literally “a slip box”) Head templates: {{en-noun}} Zettelkasten (plural Zettelkastens)
  1. A system of small items of information stored on paper slips or cards, used for organizing knowledge and taking notes. Synonyms: card file, slip box Coordinate_terms: atomic note, fleeting note, personal knowledge base, personal knowledge management, second brain, digital garden
    Sense id: en-Zettelkasten-en-noun-29uE4y3U Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 2 entries, Pages with entries

Noun [German]

IPA: [ˈt͡sɛtl̩ˌkastn̩] Audio: De-Zettelkasten.ogg [Germany, Berlin] Forms: Zettelkastens [genitive], Zettelkästen [plural], Zettelkasten [plural], Zettelkästchen [diminutive, neuter]
Etymology: Zettel (“slip; note”) + Kasten (“box”) Etymology templates: {{ety|de|:af|Zettel<t:slip; note>|Kasten<t:box>}}, {{af|de|Zettel|Kasten|t1=slip; note|t2=box}} Zettel (“slip; note”) + Kasten (“box”) Head templates: {{de-noun|m,,^:-|dim=Zettelkästchen}} Zettelkasten m (strong, genitive Zettelkastens, plural Zettelkästen or Zettelkasten, diminutive Zettelkästchen n)
  1. slip box, card file Tags: masculine, strong Synonyms: Kartei, Kartothek Related terms: Zettelwirtschaft

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

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        "2": "de",
        "3": "Zettelkasten",
        "lit": "a slip box"
      },
      "expansion": "Borrowed from German Zettelkasten (literally “a slip box”)",
      "name": "bor+"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Borrowed from German Zettelkasten (literally “a slip box”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "Zettelkastens",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "zettelkasten",
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        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
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          "name": "Pages with 2 entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "coordinate_terms": [
        {
          "word": "atomic note"
        },
        {
          "word": "fleeting note"
        },
        {
          "word": "personal knowledge base"
        },
        {
          "word": "personal knowledge management"
        },
        {
          "word": "second brain"
        },
        {
          "word": "digital garden"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1971, Hans-Bernhard Moeller, “Perception, Word-Play, and the Printed Page: Arno Schmidt and His Poe Novel”, in Books Abroad, volume 45, number 1, page 29:",
          "text": "\"Zettel\" is German for an index card, and a \"Zettelkasten\" is a writer's index card file. Schmidt prepared for Zettels Traum with a collection of more than 100,000 index cards in his legendary card file.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A system of small items of information stored on paper slips or cards, used for organizing knowledge and taking notes."
      ],
      "id": "en-Zettelkasten-en-noun-29uE4y3U",
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        [
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        ],
        [
          "paper",
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        ],
        [
          "slip",
          "slip"
        ],
        [
          "card",
          "card"
        ],
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          "organizing"
        ],
        [
          "knowledge",
          "knowledge"
        ],
        [
          "taking notes",
          "take notes"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "card file"
        },
        {
          "word": "slip box"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "Zettelkasten"
}

{
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      "lang_code": "en",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
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  "etymology_templates": [
    {
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      "name": "ety"
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      "expansion": "Zettel (“slip; note”) + Kasten (“box”)",
      "name": "af"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Zettel (“slip; note”) + Kasten (“box”)",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "Zettelkastens",
      "tags": [
        "genitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "Zettelkästen",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "Zettelkasten",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "Zettelkästchen",
      "tags": [
        "diminutive",
        "neuter"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {
        "1": "m,,^:-",
        "dim": "Zettelkästchen"
      },
      "expansion": "Zettelkasten m (strong, genitive Zettelkastens, plural Zettelkästen or Zettelkasten, diminutive Zettelkästchen n)",
      "name": "de-noun"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenations": [
    {
      "parts": [
        "Zet",
        "tel",
        "kas",
        "ten"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "lang": "German",
  "lang_code": "de",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
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          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [],
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          "name": "Knowledge",
          "orig": "en:Knowledge",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
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          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Reference works",
          "orig": "en:Reference works",
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          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
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              62,
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          ],
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          "text": "Diese Enttäuschung resultierte wohl schon aus dem Äußeren des Zettelkastens, der in seiner Unauffälligkeit auf bemerkenswerte Weise mit dem Erscheinungsbild seines Erstellers korrespondierte: Sechs größere hölzerne Karteikästen mit je vier Auszügen, das Ganze nicht größer als ein Schrank.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              42,
              54
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2017, Sönke Ahrens, Das Zettelkasten-Prinzip, BoD, →ISBN, page 25:",
          "text": "Das ist genauso abwegig wie die Idee, der Zettelkasten sei so etwas wie der Vorläufer von Wikipedia oder gar des Internets – auf diese Ideen kann man nur kommen, wenn man keine Ahnung hat, wie man mit ihm tatsächlich arbeitet.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "slip box, card file"
      ],
      "id": "en-Zettelkasten-de-noun-SQlKyj8I",
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          "slip box"
        ],
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          "card file",
          "card file"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "Zettelwirtschaft"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "Kartei"
        },
        {
          "word": "Kartothek"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "masculine",
        "strong"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈt͡sɛtl̩ˌkastn̩]"
    },
    {
      "audio": "De-Zettelkasten.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/8f/De-Zettelkasten.ogg/De-Zettelkasten.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/De-Zettelkasten.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Germany",
        "Berlin"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "Zettelkasten"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "de",
        "3": "Zettelkasten",
        "lit": "a slip box"
      },
      "expansion": "Borrowed from German Zettelkasten (literally “a slip box”)",
      "name": "bor+"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Borrowed from German Zettelkasten (literally “a slip box”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "Zettelkastens",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "zettelkasten",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "Zettelkasten (plural Zettelkastens)",
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    }
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
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        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms borrowed from German",
        "English terms derived from German",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Pages with 2 entries",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "coordinate_terms": [
        {
          "word": "atomic note"
        },
        {
          "word": "fleeting note"
        },
        {
          "word": "personal knowledge base"
        },
        {
          "word": "personal knowledge management"
        },
        {
          "word": "second brain"
        },
        {
          "word": "digital garden"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1971, Hans-Bernhard Moeller, “Perception, Word-Play, and the Printed Page: Arno Schmidt and His Poe Novel”, in Books Abroad, volume 45, number 1, page 29:",
          "text": "\"Zettel\" is German for an index card, and a \"Zettelkasten\" is a writer's index card file. Schmidt prepared for Zettels Traum with a collection of more than 100,000 index cards in his legendary card file.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A system of small items of information stored on paper slips or cards, used for organizing knowledge and taking notes."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "system",
          "system"
        ],
        [
          "small",
          "small"
        ],
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          "information",
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        ],
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        ],
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          "paper",
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        ],
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          "slip",
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        ],
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        ],
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          "knowledge",
          "knowledge"
        ],
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          "taking notes",
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        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "card file"
        },
        {
          "word": "slip box"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "Zettelkasten"
}

{
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      "lang_code": "en",
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      "word": "Zettelkasten"
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    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Zettel (“slip; note”) + Kasten (“box”)",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "Zettelkastens",
      "tags": [
        "genitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "Zettelkästen",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "Zettelkasten",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "Zettelkästchen",
      "tags": [
        "diminutive",
        "neuter"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "m,,^:-",
        "dim": "Zettelkästchen"
      },
      "expansion": "Zettelkasten m (strong, genitive Zettelkastens, plural Zettelkästen or Zettelkasten, diminutive Zettelkästchen n)",
      "name": "de-noun"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenations": [
    {
      "parts": [
        "Zet",
        "tel",
        "kas",
        "ten"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "lang": "German",
  "lang_code": "de",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "Zettelwirtschaft"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
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        "German entries referencing missing etymons",
        "German entries with etymon",
        "German entries with incorrect language header",
        "German lemmas",
        "German masculine nouns",
        "German nouns",
        "German terms with quotations",
        "Pages using etymon with no ID",
        "Pages with 2 entries",
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              62,
              75
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          ],
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          "text": "Diese Enttäuschung resultierte wohl schon aus dem Äußeren des Zettelkastens, der in seiner Unauffälligkeit auf bemerkenswerte Weise mit dem Erscheinungsbild seines Erstellers korrespondierte: Sechs größere hölzerne Karteikästen mit je vier Auszügen, das Ganze nicht größer als ein Schrank.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              42,
              54
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2017, Sönke Ahrens, Das Zettelkasten-Prinzip, BoD, →ISBN, page 25:",
          "text": "Das ist genauso abwegig wie die Idee, der Zettelkasten sei so etwas wie der Vorläufer von Wikipedia oder gar des Internets – auf diese Ideen kann man nur kommen, wenn man keine Ahnung hat, wie man mit ihm tatsächlich arbeitet.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "slip box, card file"
      ],
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        [
          "slip box",
          "slip box"
        ],
        [
          "card file",
          "card file"
        ]
      ],
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        {
          "word": "Kartei"
        },
        {
          "word": "Kartothek"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "masculine",
        "strong"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈt͡sɛtl̩ˌkastn̩]"
    },
    {
      "audio": "De-Zettelkasten.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/8f/De-Zettelkasten.ogg/De-Zettelkasten.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/De-Zettelkasten.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Germany",
        "Berlin"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "Zettelkasten"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-08-28 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-08-05 using wiktextract (872fc7b and 4deed51). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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