cathartic

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin catharticus,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Ancient Greek καθαρτικός (kathartikós, “fit for cleansing, purgative”),^[6][5][7][8] from καθαίρω (kathaírō, “to cleanse, purge”),^[3][4][2][1] itself from καθαρός (katharós, “clean, pure”),^[3][9] which Etymonline calls of unknown origin.^[7] Merriam-Webster Unabridged allows a direct Greek source as well,^[10] and Etymonline derives the Greek adjective from κάθαρσις (kátharsis, “cleansing, purging”), the source of catharsis.^[7][1] The OED compares French cathartique.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of medicines, purgative, cleansing the bowels: Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates the adjective to 1612,^[10] and Etymonline to the 1610s.^[7] The OED's first record is John Woodall's treatise on the plague, in the 1639 edition of The Surgeon's Mate.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word began in medicine, and as a noun, a purgative, it is recorded from 1651.^[6][10] The general and figurative sense, cleansing or purifying, followed in the 1670s,^[7][6] and the noun too was used figuratively from 1667.^[6] The modern sense, producing an emotional release, goes with catharsis, whose emotional sense dates from 1872;^[7] Merriam-Webster Unabridged defines the adjective chiefly as having the effect of catharsis.^[10] The form cathartical was used beside it.^[4][7][11]

Timeline

• 1612 – of medicines, purgative.^[10] The OED's first record is from 1639.^[6]
• 1651 – noun, a purgative medicine.^[6][10]
• 1667 – noun, figuratively, something that purges.^[6]
• 1678 – in general and figurative use, cleansing, purifying.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Bringing about catharsis; giving relief by purging strong emotions: Writing the letter was a cathartic experience for her.^[10][11]
2. (medicine) Purgative, laxative.^[11][6][10]

Noun

1. A purgative medicine.^[10][11][6]

Word family

• cathartically
• catharticalness
• hypercathartic
• uncathartic
• cathartical

Related words

• catharsis

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins