[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

cathexis \cathex"is\, n. gr. ka`qexis, keeping.
   1. psychiatry the process of investing mental, emotional,
      or libidinal energy or significance in an object, person,
      or idea.
      pjc

   2. psychiatry the emotional or libidinal energy invested in
      an object, person, or idea.
      pjc

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

cathexis
     n : psychoanalysis the libidinal energy invested in some idea
         or person or object; "freud thought of cathexis as a
         psychic analog of an electrical charge" syn: charge
     also: cathexes pl
see also:
charge cathexes 

Cathexis >> C Words
Cathexis, definition of term: Cathexis
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