Catharsis

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: ca=thar=sis

CIDE DICTIONARY

Catharsis, n. [NL., fr. Gr. . See Cathartic.].

•  A natural or artificial purgation of any passage, as of the mouth, bowels, etc.
•  The process of relieving an abnormal excitement by reëstablishing the association of the emotion with the memory or idea of the event that first caused it, and of eliminating it by complete expression (called the abreaction).  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Catharsis, n. (pl. catharses)
1 an emotional release in drama or art.
2 Psychol. the process of freeing repressed emotion by association with the cause, and elimination by abreaction.
3 Med. purgation.

Etymology

mod.L f. Gk katharsis f. kathairo cleanse: sense 1 f. Aristotle's Poetics

THESAURUS

Catharsis

BM, abreaction, abstersion, acting-out, bloody flux, bowdlerization, bowel movement, cleaning, cleansing, crap, defecation, dejection, deliverance, detersion, diarrhea, discharge, dry cleaning, dysentery, emotional release, evacuation, expurgation, flux, freeing, intermission, lientery, loose bowels, lustration, motor abreaction, movement, outlet, psychocatharsis, psychodrama, purgation, purge, purging, purification, release, release therapy, removal, reprieve, respite, runs, shit, shits, steam cleaning, stool, surcease, suspension, trots, turistas, voidance