Collective effervescence
Etymology
Coined by French sociologist Émile Durkheim in "The Elementary Forms of Religious Life" (1912) as "effervescence collective." "Effervescence" comes from Latin "effervescere" ("to boil up"), from "ex-" ("out") and "fervere" ("to boil"). Durkheim argued this boiling-over is the raw source of religion and the sense of the sacred. Flagged as a coinage.
noun phrase · /kuh-LEK-tiv ef-er-VES-uhns/
The surge of shared energy and emotion that arises when a group gathers and acts as one.
What it names
The electric feeling of a concert, protest, or stadium crowd — useful for explaining why people seek crowds and how solidarity is manufactured in the body.
Example
The rally’s speeches were forgettable, but the collective effervescence of ten thousand voices in unison left everyone changed.
Related idea
Compare zeitgeist, the diffuse spirit of an age; collective effervescence is acute and embodied, happening in a specific gathering rather than across a culture.