English Explanatory Dictionary

catharsis

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A release of emotional tension after an overwhelming vicarious experience, resulting in the purging or purification of the emotions, as through watching a dramatic production (especially a tragedy).
  2. Any release of emotional tension to the same effect, more widely.
  3. A purification or cleansing, especially emotional.
  4. A therapeutic technique to relieve tension by reestablishing the association of an emotion with the memory or idea of the event that first caused it, and then eliminating it by complete expression (called the abreaction).
  5. Purging of the digestive system.

Pronunciation

/kəˈθɑːsɪs/ /kəˈθɑɹˌsɪs/ en-us-catharsis.ogg

Word forms

catharsis catharses katharsis

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κάθαρσις (kátharsis, “cleansing, purging”), from καθαίρω (kathaírō, “I cleanse”). Coined in the dramatic-emotional sense by Aristotle.

Related words

cathartic

Derived words

hemocatharsis hypercatharsis

Translations

Arabic: تَنْفِيس Bulgarian: катарзис Catalan: catarsi Chinese Mandarin: 導瀉 /导泻 Chinese Mandarin: 宣洩 /宣泄 Danish: katarsis Faroese: reinleikan Finnish: katarsis French: catharsis German: Katharsis Greek: κάθαρση Ancient Greek: κάθαρσις Hebrew: קתרזיס Hindi: तनफ़ीस Hungarian: katarzis Icelandic: geðhreinsun Ido: katarso Italian: catarsi Japanese: カタルシス Japanese: 浄化 Polish: katharsis Portuguese: catarse Russian: ката́рсис Serbo-Croatian: катарза Serbo-Croatian: katarza Slovak: katarzia Spanish: catarsis Swedish: katarsis Turkish: katarsis
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