Entry: cathexis (n.)
In context: "In for instance an analytic model, the types of traumas of counterphobic reactions cover are almost always pre-Oedipal, at which stage objects' cathexis is Oedipal and symbolic."
Definition: The concentration or accumulation of mental energy in a particular channel.
Other: I would have bet I'd already covered this word. The usage reminds me of several of the literary theory courses I took in grad school and my generally mixed feelings. Anyways, here's an interesting etymology:
Etymology: < Greek κάθεξις holding, retention; intended as a rendering of German (libido)besetzung (Freud).
SNOOT score: 2
Page: 550
Source: Oxford English Dictionary
Definitive Jest is a vocabulary-building and SNOOT-approved word-of-the-day blog centered around David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest.
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