Cathexis

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Cathexis \Cath*ex"is\, n. [Gr. ka`qexis, keeping.]
     1. (Psychiatry) the process of investing mental, emotional,
        or libidinal energy or significance in an object, person,
        or idea.
        [PJC]
  


     2. (Psychiatry) the emotional or libidinal energy invested in
        an object, person, or idea.
        [PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  cathexis
       n : (psychoanalysis) the libidinal energy invested in some idea
           or person or object; "Freud thought of cathexis as a
           psychic analog of an electrical charge" [syn: {charge}]
       [also: {cathexes} (pl)]