Psy"chi*an (?), n. (Zoˆl.) Any small moth of the genus Psyche and
allied genera (family PsychidÊ). The larvÊ are called basket worms. See
Basket worm, under Basket.
{ ||Psy*chi`a*tri"a (?), Psy*chi"a*try (?), } n. [NL. psychiatria, fr.
Gr. &?; the mind + &?; healing.] (Med.) The application of the healing
art to mental diseases. Dunglison.
Psy`chi*at"ric (?), a. (Med.) Of or pertaining to psychiatria.
{ Psy"chic (?), Psy"chic*al (?), } a. [L. psychicus, Gr. &?;, fr.
psychh` the soul, mind; cf. &?; to blow: cf. F. psychique.] 1. Of or
pertaining to the human soul, or to the living principle in man.
This term was formerly used to express the same idea as psychological.
Recent metaphysicians, however, have employed it to mark the difference
between psychh` the living principle in man, and pney^ma the rational
or spiritual part of his nature. In this use, the word describes the
human soul in its relation to sense, appetite, and the outer visible
world, as distinguished from spiritual or rational faculties, which
have to do with the supersensible world. Heyse.
2. Of or pertaining to the mind, or its functions and diseases; mental;
-- contrasted with physical.
Psychical blindness, Psychical deafness (Med.), forms of nervous
disease in which, while the senses of sight and hearing remain
unimpaired, the mind fails to appreciate the significance of the sounds
heard or the images seen. -- Psychical contagion, the transference of
disease, especially of a functional nervous disease, by mere force of
example. -- Psychical medicine, that department of medicine which
treats of mental diseases.
Psy"chics (?), n. Psychology.
Psy"chism (?), n. [Cf. F. psychisme.] (Philos.) The doctrine of Quesne,
that there is a fluid universally diffused, end equally animating all
living beings, the difference in their actions being due to the
difference of the individual organizations. Fleming.
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Psy"cho- (?). A combining form from Gr. psychh` the soul, the mind, the
understanding; as, psychology.
Psy`cho*gen"e*sis (?), n. Genesis through an internal force, as opposed
to natural selection.
Psy*chog"ra*phy (?), n. [Psycho- + -graphy.] 1. A description of the
phenomena of mind.