psyche

psyche

See also: Psyche and psyché

English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin psychē, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek ψυχή (psukhḗ, “soul”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: sī'kē, IPA^(key): /ˈsaɪ.ki/

Noun

psyche (plural psyches)

1. The human soul, mind, or spirit.
2. (chiefly psychology) The human mind as the central force in thought, emotion, and behavior of an individual.
3. A small white butterfly, Leptosia nina, family Pieridae, of Asia and Australasia.

Translations

the human soul, mind, or spirit

Catalan: psique (ca) f Czech: psýcha f Finnish: psyyke (fi) French: psyché (fr) f, psychisme (fr) m German: Psyche (de) f Interlingue: psiche Italian: please add this translation if you can

Maori: mauri Occitan: psiquè f Polish: psychika (pl) f Russian: душа́ (ru) f (dušá), дух (ru) m (dux), пси́хика (ru) f (psíxika) Spanish: psique (es) f, psiquis (es) f Yiddish: פּסיכע‎ f (psikhe)

Etymology 2

Shortened form of psychology, from French psychologie, from Latin psychologia, from Ancient Greek ψυχή (psukhḗ, “soul”) and -λογία (-logía, “study of”)

Alternative forms

• psych

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsaɪk/
• Rhymes: -aɪk

Noun

psyche (uncountable)

1. Abbreviation of psychology.

Interjection

psyche

1. (colloquial) Used abruptly after a sentence to indicate that the speaker is only joking.

Verb

psyche (third-person singular simple present psyches, present participle psyching, simple past and past participle psyched)

1. (transitive) To put (someone) into a required psychological frame of mind.
2. (transitive) To intimidate (someone) emotionally using psychology.
3. (transitive, informal) To treat (someone) using psychoanalysis.

Translations

to put into required frame of mind

Finnish: psyykata

to intimidate with psychology

Finnish: kiusata henkisesti

to treat with psychoanalysis

Finnish: analysoida (fi), hoitaa psykoanalyysilla

Further reading

• psyche in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• psyche in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

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Dutch

Etymology

From Latin psychē, from Ancient Greek ψυχή (psukhḗ).

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: psy‧che

Noun

psyche f (plural psyches)

1. psyche, soul, spirit

Derived terms

• psychisch

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Latin

Etymology

Transliteration of Ancient Greek ψυχή (psukhḗ, “soul, breath”)

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpsy.kʰeː/, [ˈpsʏ.kʰeː]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpsi.ke/, [ˈpsiː.ke]

Noun

psychē f (genitive psychēs); first declension

1. mind
2. spirit

Declension

First-declension noun (Greek-type).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	psychē	psychae
Genitive	psychēs	psychārum
Dative	psychae	psychīs
Accusative	psychēn	psychās
Ablative	psychē	psychīs
Vocative	psychē	psychae