1922, from Latinized form of Greek kathexis "holding, retention," from PIE root *segh- "to hold" (see scheme (n.)). Used by psychologists to render Freud's (libido)besetzung.
权威例句
1. Freud thought of cathexis as a psychic analog of an electrical charge.
Freud认为性欲发泄是同电荷释放类似的精神现象.
2. In psychoanalysis, cathexis is the libido's charge of energy.