narcissism

narcissism
1. A state in which one interprets and regards everything in relation to oneself and not to other persons or things. 2. Self-love, which may include sexual attraction toward onself. SEE ALSO: autoeroticism. SYN: self-love. [Narkissos, G. myth. char.]
- primary n. in psychoanalysis, the original psychic energy embodied or invested in the ego.
- secondary n. in psychoanalysis, the psychic energy once attached to external objects, but now withdrawn from those objects and reinvested in the ego.

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nar·cis·sism 'när-sə-.siz-əm n
1) love of or sexual desire for one's own body
2) the state or stage of development in psychoanalytic theory in which there is considerable erotic interest in one's own body and ego and which in abnormal forms persists through fixation or reappears through regression

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n.
an excessive involvement with oneself and one's self-importance. In Freudian terms it is a state in which the ego has taken itself as a love object. Some degree of narcissism is present in most individuals, but when it is shown to an extreme degree it may be a symptom of schizophrenia, personality disorder, or other conditions.
narcissistic adj.

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nar·cis·sism (nahrґsĭ-siz-əm) [from Narcissus, a character in Greek mythology who fell in love with his own image reflected in water] dominant interest in oneself; self-love; the state in which the ego is invested in oneself, rather than in another person. narcissistic adj

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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