(n) (psychoanalysis) the libidinal energy invested in some idea or person or object, Syn. charge, Example:Freud thought of cathexis as a psychic analog of an electrical charge
n. [ Gr. ka`qexis, keeping. ] 1. (Psychiatry) the process of investing mental, emotional, or libidinal energy or significance in an object, person, or idea. [ PJC ]
2. (Psychiatry) the emotional or libidinal energy invested in an object, person, or idea. [ PJC ]