Zeitgeist

The feelings of a particular era or time in history
or
The defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time

To memorize vocabulary words in general, I will connect something in the word (such as a letter) to something in the definition (such as a word).  For example, I can take the "e" in zeitgeist and connect it to the word era, or I can take the "t" and connect it to the word time.  This sounds ridiculous but for whatever reason, this actually works.

http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-4-worst-times-to-be-internet/