Etymology

cathexis

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Today it means: The concentration of libido or emotional energy on a single object or idea. Full definition →

Ancient Greek κάθεξις
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · borrowed fromκάθεξις“holding, retention”
  2. English todaycathexis

From Ancient Greek κάθεξις (káthexis, “holding, retention”). The term entered the English language as a translation for the common everyday German word Besetzung, which in the context of psychoanalysis means "occupation" in the sense of a position or something being occupied or filled, and not a military occupation of a place or the filling of job positions (although it can also mean either of these in other contexts). (In English translations, a Greek word was used to be more scientific.)

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.