What does psychical mean?
Psychical is an adjective relating either to the mind or to phenomena believed to exist beyond the physical world. In its more familiar psychological sense, it describes thoughts, impressions, emotions, and other mental processes: a person may speak of a psychical impression or a psychical response to an event. In a second, more specialized sense, psychical research investigates alleged paranormal experiences, such as telepathy, clairvoyance, or communication with the dead. This use is associated particularly with spiritualism and remains controversial because the phenomena are difficult to test under controlled conditions. The word can therefore sound academic or old-fashioned, and it carries a slightly mysterious atmosphere. It is distinct from physical, which concerns material and perceptible reality, and from psychic, which can function as both an adjective and a noun referring to a person with supposed paranormal abilities.
adjectiveRelating to the mind or mental processes; also, relating to events or phenomena supposedly caused by forces beyond the physical world.
- Relating to the mind, emotions, or mental processes.
- Relating to phenomena that are alleged to occur beyond the physical world, especially in spiritualist or paranormal contexts.
"The investigators recorded the visitors' psychical experiences in a detailed journal."
"The study explored whether psychical impressions could be influenced by unconscious memories."
"The magazine published an account of psychical phenomena that remained controversial among researchers."
Psychical bridges the everyday mind and the unexplained: it can describe ordinary thoughts or the mysteries that lie beyond physical evidence.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of psychical
Psychical was formed in the 19th century from the combining form psych-, meaning mind or soul, together with the adjective-forming suffix -ical. The root comes through Latin from Greek psychē, meaning breath, life, or soul, and is also reflected in words such as psyche, psychic, psychology, and psychiatry. In psychical, the word developed both a general sense connected with the mind and a specialized sense associated with supposed nonphysical phenomena.
Related word forms
How psychical is actually used
The word is somewhat formal and literary. Its second sense is especially associated with psychical research, spiritualism, and claims about paranormal phenomena, so it should not be treated as scientific confirmation of those claims.
Easily confused with psychical
Psychic is commonly used for a person believed to have unusual mental or paranormal abilities, whereas psychical is usually an adjective describing mental processes or paranormal phenomena.
Physical refers to what can be perceived through the senses or measured materially, while psychical concerns the mind or supposed nonmaterial phenomena.