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• psyche
  psyche

  verb (used with object)

  a variant of psych.
• Psyche
  Psyche

  noun

  a personification of the soul, which in the form of a beautiful girl was loved by Eros.

psyche

¹ American  

[sahyk] / saɪk /

verb (used with object)

psyched, psyching

1. a variant of psych.

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Psyche ² American  

[sahy-kee] / ˈsaɪ ki /

noun

1. Classical Mythology. a personification of the soul, which in the form of a beautiful girl was loved by Eros.

2. psyche,

   1. the human soul, spirit, or mind.

   2. Psychology, Psychoanalysis. the mental or psychological structure of a person, especially as a motive force.

3. Philosophy. (inNeoplatonism ) the second emanation of the One, regarded as a universal consciousness and as the animating principle of the world.

4. a female given name.

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Psyche ¹ British  

/ ˈsaɪkɪ /

noun

1. Greek myth a beautiful girl loved by Eros (Cupid), who became the personification of the soul

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psyche ² British  

/ ˈsaɪkɪ /

noun

1. the human mind or soul

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Psyche ¹ Cultural  

1. In Roman mythology, a beautiful girl who was visited each night in the dark by Cupid, who told her she must not try to see him. When she did try, while he was asleep, she accidentally dropped oil from her lamp on him, and he awoke and fled. After she had performed many harsh tasks set by Cupid's mother, Venus, Jupiter made her immortal, and she and Cupid were married. Her name is Greek for both “soul” and “butterfly.”

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psyche ² Cultural  

1. The mind, soul, or spirit, as opposed to the body. In psychology, the psyche is the center of thought, feeling, and motivation, consciously and unconsciously directing the body's reactions to its social and physical environment.

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Etymology

Origin of Psyche

First recorded in 1650–60 Psyche for def. 2a; from Latin psȳchē, from Greek psȳchḗ literally, “breath,” derivative of psȳ́chein “to breathe, blow,” hence, “live” ( see psycho-)

Explanation

Another word for the place where your thoughts come from is your psyche. Not your actual brain, but whatever it is that generates all of your thoughts and emotions. Psyche comes from the Greek psykhe, which means “the soul, mind, spirit, or invisible animating entity which occupies the physical body.” That about sums the way we understand the word today. People have their own individual psyches of course, but you often hear the word used to describe the similar mind set or thought process of a group of people, such as "the American psyche."

Example Sentences

Once it arrives, the spacecraft will orbit Psyche at several different altitudes while mapping the surface and collecting scientific data.

From Science Daily • May 26, 2026

Scientists believe Psyche could be the exposed partial core of an ancient planetesimal, one of the building blocks that formed planets early in the solar system's history.

From Science Daily • May 26, 2026

NASA's Psyche spacecraft is preparing for a close encounter with Mars that will help send it deeper into the solar system on its way to the metal-rich asteroid Psyche.

From Science Daily • May 11, 2026

Instead of relying entirely on its thrusters, mission planners are taking advantage of Mars' gravitational pull to help guide the spacecraft toward its final destination, the unusual metallic asteroid Psyche.

From Science Daily • May 11, 2026

There was once a king who had three daughters, all lovely maidens, but the youngest, Psyche, excelled her sisters so greatly that beside them she seemed a very goddess consorting with mere mortals.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

Related Words

• ego
• mind
• soul
• spirit
• subconscious