primal horde

noun

In Freudian psychoanalysis, an archetypal cathexis of the sons usurping their father's hierarchical position; the basis of the Oedipus complex, and sometimes resulting in totemism.

Meanings

nounprimal horde (plural primal hordes)

plural primal hordes

  1. human sciencesIn Freudian psychoanalysis, an archetypal cathexis of the sons usurping their father's hierarchical position; the basis of the Oedipus complex, and sometimes resulting in totemism.

    … Freud's analyses from his 1913 Totem and taboo, of how the primal horde of rebellious sons overcame the patriarchal father and set up public totems and taboos as means to eternalize their resultant guilt.

    2003, Robert S. Corrington, Wilhelm Reich. Psychoanalyst and Radical Naturalist. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, page 104
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APA

primal horde. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/primal%20horde

MLA

“primal horde.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/primal%20horde. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “primal horde,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/primal%20horde.

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