psyche English · revision 1231

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈsaɪ.ki/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|psyche]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|grc|ψυχή|tr=psukhḗ|t=soul, mind, spirit, breath, life]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) probably related to ''psukhein'' “to breathe, to blow”.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) The Greek word is sometimes traced to a Proto-Indo-European root ''*bhes-'' “to breathe”,^(AHD)^(Etymonline) but Etymonline notes that Beekes doubts this.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The animating spirit, the soul (1647, in the OED and Barnhart).^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Greek the word also meant the spirit of a dead person, imagined as a winged creature,^(Etymonline) and in myth ''Psyche'' was the girl loved by Eros, represented with a butterfly as her symbol.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(AHD) The human soul or spirit as distinct from the body is recorded in English from 1658,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and the psychological sense of the conscious and unconscious mind dates from 1910.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1590 – Merriam-Webster's date, for the mythical princess.^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1647 – the animating spirit or soul.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1658 – the soul as distinct from the body, the mind.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1838 – a cheval glass.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1910 – in psychology, the mind as a whole.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[soul]] or [[spirit]] of a person.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The [[mind]] as the centre of thought, feeling and behaviour, both conscious and [[unconscious]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # In [[Neoplatonism]], the universal consciousness that animates the world.^(RHWU)

+

+ ===Proper noun===

+ # In [[myth|alt=mythology]], a princess loved by Eros (Cupid), later the personification of the soul.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[psych]]

+ * [[psychic]]

+ * [[psychology]]

+ * [[psycho-]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}