Where does “psychoanalyst” come from?
Psychoanalyst comes from French psychanalyste, which combines French psyche- and analyste, the latter from Ancient Greek analystes, derived from analyein, composed of ana- and lyein meaning to loosen or dissolve.
psychoanalyst (English): A practitioner of psychoanalysis
Definitions
- A practitioner of psychoanalysis
Ancestry of “psychoanalyst”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | analyst | Someone who analyzes; A mathematician who studies... |
| 2 | French | analyste | analyst |
| 3 | French | analyse | analysis; first-person singular present... |
| 4 | Medieval Latin | analysis | analysis |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | ἀνάλυσις | a loosing, releasing; a dissolving, resolution of... |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | ἀναλύω | to unloose, release, set free; I unravel,... |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | ἀνά | on board; on, upon |
| 8 | Proto-Hellenic | *aná | up, upon |