Dictionary

cathexis en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /kəˈθɛk sɪs/ (UK)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κάθεξις (káthexis, “holding, retention”). The term entered the English language as a translation for the common everyday German word Besetzung, which in the context of psychoanalysis means "occupation" in the sense of a position or something being occupied or filled, and not a military occupation of a place or the filling of job positions (although it can also mean either of these in other contexts). (In English translations, a Greek word was used to be more scientific.)

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The concentration of libido or emotional energy on a single object or idea.
   • How contemporary artistic performances elicit cathexis on the part of the audience and promote unifying social rituals. 2013, Isher-Paul Sahni, “More than Horseplay”, in Studies in Popular Culture, volume 35, page 76:

Forms

Deriveds

cathect · acathexis · decathexis · anticathexis · cathectic · countercathexis · recathexis · hypercathexis

Translations (7)

ko 주의 집중 (the concentration of libido or emotional energy on a single object or idea) · pt catexe (the concentration of libido or emotional energy on a single object or idea) · de Objektbesetzung (the concentration of libido or emotional energy on a single object or idea) · pt catexia (the concentration of libido or emotional energy on a single object or idea) · ca catexi (the concentration of libido or emotional energy on a single object or idea) · pl kateksja (the concentration of libido or emotional energy on a single object or idea) · tr kateksis (the concentration of libido or emotional energy on a single object or idea)