psycho

¹

[ sahy-koh ]

noun

, plural psy·chos.

1. a psychopathic or psychotic person.
2. a crazy or mentally unstable person.

adjective

1. psychopathic or psychotic.
2. crazy; mentally unstable.

psycho-

²

1. a combining form representing psyche ( psychological ) and psychological ( psychoanalysis ) in compound words.

psycho-

¹

combining_form

1. indicating the mind or psychological or mental processes

   psychosomatic

   psychogenesis

   psychology

psycho

²

/ ˈsaɪkəʊ /

noun

1. See psychopath
   an informal and offensive word for psychopath or psychopathic See psychopath

Word History and Origins

Origin of psycho¹

First recorded in 1935–40; by shortening

Origin of psycho²

< Greek, combining form of psȳchḗ breath, spirit, soul, mind; akin to psȳ́chein to blow ( psykter )

Word History and Origins

Origin of psycho¹

from Greek psukhē spirit, breath

Example Sentences

When, in succession, he made Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960), and The Birds (1963).

From The Daily Beast

In Psycho a psychiatrist (the young Simon Oakland) tells us in clinical terms what we've seen.

From The Daily Beast

To bolster my case I told him we should actually call it Pursuito, like Vertigo or Psycho.

From The Daily Beast

He is the author of Broken Glass, Memoirs of a Porcupine, and African Psycho, among others.

From The Daily Beast

Because there was plenty more psycho and much more drama on the way.

From The Daily Beast

But there is a wide gulf between that and concluding that all psycho-biological phenomena are hallucinations.

From Project Gutenberg

That caution about 'heightened psycho-physiological effects,' that we were never able to understand!

From Project Gutenberg

We want to work out a substitute for Beta that will keep the flavor of the drink without the psycho-physiological effects.

From Project Gutenberg

When Dr. Martin first introduced him into the psycho-recovery room his resolution almost vanished.

From Project Gutenberg

If we are to do our work properly, we must base it completely upon modern psycho physical fundamentals.

From Project Gutenberg

Words That Use psycho-

What does psycho- mean?

Psycho– is a combining form used like a prefix meaning either “psyche” or “psychological.” Psyche denotes “the human soul, spirit, or mind,” while psychological is a related yet distinct term that means “pertaining to psychology, the science of the mind or of mental states.” Psycho– is often used in medical and technical terms, especially in psychology.

Psycho– comes from Greek psȳchḗ, meaning “breath, spirit, soul, mind.” For more on the meaning of this word in Ancient Greek mythology, read our entry for psyche. The word psyche is at the root of the term psychedelic, which refers to the effect of hallucinogenic drugs.

What are variants of psycho-?

When combined with words or word elements that begin with a vowel, psycho– becomes psych–, as in psychiatry. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use article on psych-.

Examples of psycho-

An example of a word you may have encountered that features psycho– is psychopathy, “a mental disorder in which an individual manifests amoral and antisocial behavior, lack of ability to love or establish meaningful personal relationships, extreme egocentricity, failure to learn from experience, etc.”

While psycho– means “psyche,” the –pathy portion of the word refers to “disease,” from Greek pátheia, meaning “suffering.” Psychopathy literally means “disease of the psyche (mind).”

What are some words that use the combining form psycho-?

• psychoactive
• psychoanalyze
• psychoanalysis (using the equivalent form of psycho– in German)
• psychoanalytic
• psychobabble
• psychobiography
• psychobiology
• psychochemistry
• psychodiagnosis (using the equivalent form of psycho– in Latin)
• psychodrama
• psychodynamic
• psychoendocrinology
• psychogenesis (using the equivalent form of psycho– in Latin)
• psychograph
• psychohistory
• psychokinesis
• psycholinguistics
• psychology (using the equivalent form of psycho– in Latin)
• psychomachia (using the equivalent form of psycho– in Latin)
• psychomancy
• psychometrics
• psychomotor
• psychoneuroimmunology
• psychoneurotic
• psychopharmacology
• psychopomp (using the equivalent form of psycho– in Greek)
• psychosexual
• psychosocial
• psychotherapy
• psychotoxic

What are some other forms that psycho– may be commonly confused with?

• pseudo-
• psychro-
• py-
• pyro-

Break it down!

The combining form –metrics means “the science of measuring.” With this in mind, what is the field of psychometrics?