Psyche Means Both Soul and Butterfly
The psyche is the mind or soul. The Greek word also meant butterfly, and ancient art used the image deliberately.
The psyche is the human mind or soul. The Greek *psyche* meant both soul and butterfly, and the double sense was not accidental: the soul leaving the body was pictured as a winged thing, and Greek art shows Psyche with butterfly wings. The root verb means to breathe, linking soul and breath as many languages do.
- The mind or soul. *The human psyche.*
- Psychology — the study of the mind. *Clinical psychology.*
- Psychic — of the mind, or supposedly supernatural. *A psychic reading.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | psyche | The national psyche. |
| Field | psychology | Cognitive psychology. |
| Adjective | psychic | Psychic phenomena. |
| Field | psychiatry | Adult psychiatry. |
| Related | psychosomatic | A psychosomatic symptom. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Psyche means both soul and butterfly.In Greek.
- Psychology and psychiatry differ.See below.
- Soul and breath are linked in many languages.As in *spirit* and *respire*.
Psychology and psychiatry
- Psychology — the scientific study of mind and behaviour
- Psychiatry — a branch of medicine, practised by qualified doctors
- Psychotherapy — treatment through structured conversation
- Psychoanalysis — the tradition founded by Freud
- Prescribing — psychiatrists may prescribe medication; psychologists generally may not
From Greek *psyche*, breath, soul or butterfly, from *psychein*, to breathe.
Psychologist or psychiatrist?
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who can prescribe. A psychologist studies mind and behaviour and generally cannot.
Why does psyche also mean butterfly?
Greek imagined the departing soul as winged, and art depicted Psyche with butterfly wings. One word covered both.