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From Webster's Concise Dictionary (1994): 
Catharsis n. purgation, also of the emotions, through art.

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From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913):
Catharsis \Ca*thar"sis\, n. (Psychotherapy) The process of relieving an abnormal excitement by re["e]stablishing the association of the emotion with the memory or idea of the event that first caused it, and of eliminating it by complete expression (called the abreaction).

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