Log in or Sign up
psyche love

psyche

Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In classical mythology, the personified and deified soul or spirit, the beloved of Eros, by whom she was alternately caressed and tormented.
  • noun [lowercase] The human soul or spirit or mind.
  • noun The 16th planetoid, discovered by De Gasparis at Naples in 1852.
  • noun In zoology: In entomology, a genus of bombycid moths, erected by Schrank in 1801 (after Linnæus, 1735), and typical of the family Psychidæ.
  • noun In conchology, a genus of gymnosomatous pteropods of the family Eurybiidæ. Also called Halopsyche.
  • noun [lowercase] In anatomy, the cerebrospinal nervous system: in Haeckel's vocabulary applied to the brain and spinal cord as the physiological center of the nervous system, in the activities of which he supposed the soul or spirit to subsist.
  • noun [lowercase] A large mirror, in which the whole person can be seen, usually hung on pivots at the sides, the whole being supported in a movable frame.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Class Myth.) A lovely maiden, daughter of a king and mistress of Eros, or Cupid. She is regarded as the personification of the soul.
  • noun The soul; the vital principle; the mind.
  • noun A cheval glass.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • abbreviation psychology
  • interjection Used abruptly after a sentence to indicate that the speaker is only joking.
  • verb transitive To put (someone) into a required psychological frame of mind.
  • verb transitive To intimidate (someone) emotionally using psychology.
  • verb transitive, informal To treat (someone) using psychoanalysis.
  • noun The human soul, mind, or spirit.
  • noun The human mind as the central force in thought, emotion, and behavior of an individual.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun that which is responsible for one's thoughts and feelings; the seat of the faculty of reason
  • noun the immaterial part of a person; the actuating cause of an individual life
  • noun (Greek mythology) a beautiful princess loved by Cupid who visited her at night and told her she must not try to see him; became the personification of the soul

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Shortened form of psychology, from French psychologie, from Latin psychologia, from Ancient Greek ψυχή (psuchē, "soul") and -λογία (-logia, "study of")

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin psychē, from Ancient Greek ψυχή (psyche, "soul, breath")

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word psyche.

Examples

  • In the context of the soul or the child we are discussing in this book, we might see these standards not only in psychological or moral terms but also in spiritual terms, as the word psyche originally implied.

    The Wonder of Children Michael Gurian 2002

  • In the context of the soul or the child we are discussing in this book, we might see these standards not only in psychological or moral terms but also in spiritual terms, as the word psyche originally implied.

    The Wonder of Children Michael Gurian 2002

  • It is necessary to leave the term psyche untranslated initially, since it cannot be accurately rendered by a single English word such as

    Dictionary of the History of Ideas ANTHONY A. LONG 1968

  • It is necessary to leave the term psyche untranslated initially, since it cannot be accurately rendered by a single English word such as

    Dictionary of the History of Ideas 1925

  • There is the suggestion inherent in the word psyche that great respect, care and consideration should be rendered in this technique.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Ph.D. Jane G. Goldberg 2011

  • The term psyche can be used just as efficiently and things can be considered psychological rather than spiritual.

    Beyond Meds 2009

  • Maybe deep in my psyche is an event or an emotion that correlates to my first turquoise introduction.

    A Fascination of Colors « Colleen Anderson 2010

  • In this German context, he argues that the psyche is a forum not just for constructing new languages of mind, but also new justifications of individuality: the psyche is considered to be the inner seat of selfhood.

    Article Abstracts 2008

  • From this perspective, the turn to an ontology of the psyche is the philosophical move that retains the space for metaphysical enchantment in an age of disenchantment.

    Psychology in Search of Psyches: Friedrich Schelling, Gotthilf Schubert and the Obscurities of the Romantic Soul 2008

  • You, of course, may already know this, but I wasn't paying attention in class that day, so I can't believe I got this far along in life without knowing that the Greek word psyche meant butterfly.

    William Horden: Transformation: Giving Thanks For Our Meltdowns 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • cathari commented on the word psyche

    On the internet I keep seeing people try to use this in the retro slang sense-- "Psyche!" meaning "Just kidding!"-- but spelling it "Sike", as though perhaps they never understood where the slang came from...

    October 16, 2007

  • chained_bear commented on the word psyche

    You're right, they probably don't understand where the slang came from. These crazy kids on teh Interwebs... ;)

    October 16, 2007

  • uselessness commented on the word psyche

    See discussion at sike, subtitled "Why Uselessness Is Right And You Are Wrong." ;-)

    October 16, 2007

  • missanthropist commented on the word psyche

    Greek Butterfly.

    Speaking of where words came from...

    July 11, 2008