- catharsis
- 1803, from Gk. katharsis "purging, cleansing," from kathairein "to purify, purge," from katharsos "pure." Originally medical; of emotions from 1872; psychotherapy sense first recorded 1909, in Brill's translation of Freud.
- cathartic
- 1612, of medicines, from L. catharticus, from Gk. kathartikos "fit for cleansing, purgative," from katharsis "purging, cleansing" (see catharsis). General sense is from 1672.