compassion

B2 Topic:People & Society

US /kəmˈpæʃən/ UK /kəmˈpæʃ.ən/ See IPA manual

Freq #6604

Meanings

1

noun
A strong feeling of sympathy for people who are suffering, together with a wish to help them.

She treats every patient with great kindness and compassion.
2

verb
To feel pity or sympathy for someone.

He could not help but compassion the homeless families he passed each day.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a strong feeling of... pity compassionateness

2 verb · to feel pity or sympathy... commiserate pitytake pity

More bowels commiseration empathy heart kindnessloving-kindnessmercy remorse rue ruth sorrow

Opposites

compassionlessnesspitilessness ruthlessness uncompassionunpity

Word family

Derived forms compassionablecompassionate compassionlessincompassionself-compassionuncompassion

Related forms compatible passion

Simplified etymology

Compassion entered English in the Middle English period and literally means “suffering with” another person. Its root is related to Latin pati, “to suffer,” which also produced passion.

Etymology

From Middle English compassioun, compassion, from Old French compassion, from Ecclesiastical Latin compassio (“sympathy”), from Latin compati, past participle compassus (“to suffer together with”), from com- (“together”) + pati (“to suffer”); see passion.

compassioun Middle English compassion Old French compassio la-ecc compati Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# compassion

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /kəmˈpæʃən/
**IPA (UK):** /kəmˈpæʃ.ən/
**Frequency rank:** 6604

## Meanings
1. A strong feeling of sympathy for people who are suffering, together with a wish to help them.
2. To feel pity or sympathy for someone.

## Examples
- She treats every patient with great kindness and compassion.
- He could not help but compassion the homeless families he passed each day.

## Synonyms
- bowels
- commiseration
- empathy
- heart
- kindness
- loving-kindness
- mercy
- pity
- remorse
- rue
- ruth
- sorrow

## Antonyms
- compassionlessness
- pitilessness
- ruthlessness
- uncompassion
- unpity

## Derived Forms
- compassionable
- compassionate
- compassionless
- incompassion
- self-compassion
- uncompassion

## Related Forms
- compatible
- passion

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: compassioun
- Root: compassion
- Root: compassio
- Root: compati

## Etymology
From Middle English compassioun, compassion, from Old French compassion, from Ecclesiastical Latin compassio (“sympathy”), from Latin compati, past participle compassus (“to suffer together with”), from com- (“together”) + pati (“to suffer”); see passion.

## AI Etymology
compassion is a noun and verb. It is from Middle English compassioun, compassion, from Old French compassion, from Ecclesiastical Latin compassio (“sympathy”), from Latin compati, past participle compassus (“to suffer together with”), from com- (“together”) + pati (“to suffer”); see passion. Historical forms in the chain include compassioun (Middle English), compassion (Old French), compassio (la-ecc), and compati (Latin). Current senses include a strong feeling of sympathy for people who are suffering, together with a wish to help them and to feel pity or sympathy for someone. Derived forms include compassionable, compassionate, compassionless, incompassion, and self-compassion. Related words include compatible and passion.

## Topics
- People & Society

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