cathect

English

Etymology

Back-formation from cathexis and cathectic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kəˈθɛkt/
• Rhymes: -ɛkt

Verb

cathect (third-person singular simple present cathects, present participle cathecting, simple past and past participle cathected)

1. (transitive, psychology) To focus one's emotional energies on someone or something.
   • 2013, Carroll E. Izard, Human Emotions, page 193:

     Apparently it is possible for an individual to cathect any person, object, idea, or image. Of considerable importance to a possible analogy between cathexis and the emotion of interest, is Freud's notion that an individual can cathect thought or thinking as well as attention and perception.