katsu

(Japanese). In Japanese zen, an expletive uttered by one who has had a breakthrough experience, such as solving a kōan or realizing enlightenment (bodhi; satori). In ordinary usage, it is a verb meaning ‘to win’ or ‘to gain dominance over’. There is also another word pronounced ‘katsu’ that occurs in Zen literature represented by a different Chinese character which means simply ‘to shout’.