D. J. Kevles
Did you know?
Sometime back in the 16th century, we borrowed the word psyche directly from Greek into English. In Greek mythology, Psyche was a beautiful princess who fell in love with Eros (Cupid), god of love, and went through terrible trials before being allowed to marry him. The story is often understood to be about the soul redeeming itself through love. (To the Greeks, psyche also meant "butterfly", which suggests how they imagined the soul.) In English, psyche often sounds less spiritual than soul, less intellectual than mind, and more private than personality.
Examples of psyche in a Sentence
Devon Ivie, Vulture, 16 Feb. 2025
To channel your own psyche but include all these references is no easy feat.
—Grace Edquist, Vogue, 13 Feb. 2025
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Gaga also reflected on her past career and how portions of it impacted her psyche.
—EW.com, 13 Feb. 2025
The idea — not uncontroversial but still wildly popular over a century later — is that differing combinations of responses can be wrangled into conclusions about the psyches of those who sit the test.
—Jack Lang, The Athletic, 9 Feb. 2025
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Dictionary Entries Near psyche
Cite this Entry
“Psyche.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/psyche. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
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psyche
noun
Medical Definition
psyche
noun
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