n., pl., -stalts, or -stalts, or -stalt·en, or -stalt·en (-shtält'n, -shtôlt'n, -stält'n, -stôlt'n).
A physical, biological, psychological, or symbolic configuration or pattern of elements so unified as a whole that its properties cannot be derived from a simple summation of its parts.
[German, shape, from Middle High German, from past participle of stellen, to place, from Old High German.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
