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catharsis

cat·har·sis

UK/kəˈθɑːsɪs/ US/kəˈθɑɹˌsɪs/ rare

noun

1.
2.

purging the body by the use of a cathartic to stimulate evacuation of the bowels

Synonyms

Origin

From Ancient Greek κάθαρσις (kátharsis, “cleansing, purging”), from καθαίρω (kathaírō, “I cleanse”). Coined in the dramatic-emotional sense by Aristotle.

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.