catharsis

[kuh-thahr-sis]

noun

plural

catharses 

1. the purging of the emotions or relieving of emotional tensions, especially through certain kinds of art, as tragedy or music.

2. Medicine/Medical.,  purgation.

3. Psychiatry.

   1. psychotherapy that encourages or permits the discharge of pent-up, socially unacceptable affects.

   2. discharge of pent-up emotions so as to result in the alleviation of symptoms or the permanent relief of the condition.

catharsis

/ kəˈθɑːsɪs /

noun

1. (in Aristotelian literary criticism) the purging or purification of the emotions through the evocation of pity and fear, as in tragedy

2. psychoanal the bringing of repressed ideas or experiences into consciousness, thus relieving tensions See also abreaction

3. purgation, esp of the bowels

catharsis

1. An experience of emotional release and purification, often inspired by or through art. In psychoanalysis, catharsis is the release of tension and anxiety that results from bringing repressed feelings and memories into consciousness.

Other Word Forms

• hypercatharsis noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of catharsis¹

First recorded in 1795–1805; from New Latin, from Greek kátharsis “a cleansing,” equivalent to kathar- (variant stem of kathaírein “to cleanse,” derivative of katharós “pure”) + -sis -sis

Word History and Origins

Origin of catharsis¹

C19: New Latin, from Greek katharsis, from kathairein to purge, purify