Katharsis

[kaˈtaʁzɪs]

/[kaˈtaʁzɪs]/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“Katharsis” is uncommon German (frequency #85,434 among 4,158 “K” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#85,434
frequency rank, German
4,158
“K” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - die Befreiung von psychischen/seelischen Konflikten durch eine emotionale Handlung

Corpus desk

Index DE-katharsis · Katharsis · German

Katharsis · rank #85,434 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #85,434
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,158
  • PHOTO-FINISH Kaufberatung

Nearest frequency peer: Kaufberatung (+1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „Katharsis“

Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer

corpus weight

What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „Katharsis“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Katharsis
PropertyValue
HeadwordKatharsis
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[kaˈtaʁzɪs]
Letters9
Frequency rank#85,434
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Katharsis“ im Deutschen

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).Katharsisfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Kaufberatung“ (#85,435), „Kaskaden“ (#85,432), „Kartoffelpuffer“ (#85,431). Unter 4,158 „K“-Lemmata liegt „Katharsis“ bei #85,434. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Katharsis is uncommon German at frequency #85,434 among 4,158 “K” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [kaˈtaʁzɪs]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Katharsis has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable German rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is Katharsis, spelled K-A-T-H-A-R-S-I-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    die Befreiung von psychischen/seelischen Konflikten durch eine emotionale Handlung
  2. 2
    in der aristotelischen Poetik (psychische) Reinigung als Effekt der Tragödie

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how Katharsis appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Schafft der Fußball soziale Katharsis?
  2. „Das Plakat von Karl Kraus, das um diese Zeit angeschlagen wurde, hatte die Wirkung einer Katharsis und erlöste mich von dieser Lähmung.“

This word in other languages

catharsis(English)catarsis(Español)catarse(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Katharsis"?
"Katharsis" is spelled K-A-T-H-A-R-S-I-S. The IPA pronunciation is [kaˈtaʁzɪs].
What does "Katharsis" mean?
As a noun, "Katharsis" means: die Befreiung von psychischen/seelischen Konflikten durch eine emotionale Handlung
How do you pronounce "Katharsis"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Katharsis" is [kaˈtaʁzɪs]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Katharsis" come from?
"Katharsis" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Katharsis", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Kehrwoche#85,437Kampanien#85,423Kaminofen#85,422indigener#85,394

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list