empathy

C2+ Topic:Psychology & Behavior

US /ˈɛmpəθi/ UK /ˈɛmpəθi/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
the ability to understand and share another's feelings

Her empathy made patients feel genuinely heard.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the ability to understand... compassion understanding sympathyfellow-feelingrapport sensitivity

Opposites

indifference apathy callousness

Word family

Derived forms empatheticempathizeempathempathic

Related forms pathos sympathy apathy

Simplified etymology

Empathy was coined by physiologists in the early 20th century from em- “in” and Greek pathos “feeling.”

Etymology

A 20th-century coinage modelled on sympathy, from Ancient Greek empátheia ('passion, state of emotion'), from en- ('in') + páthos ('feeling, suffering'); used to render German Einfühlung.

empátheia Ancient Greek páthos Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Psychology & Behavior Abstract Ideas Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# empathy

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈɛmpəθi/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɛmpəθi/

## Meanings
1. the ability to understand and share another's feelings

## Examples
- Her empathy made patients feel genuinely heard.

## Synonyms
- compassion
- understanding
- sympathy
- fellow-feeling
- rapport
- sensitivity

## Antonyms
- indifference
- apathy
- callousness

## Derived Forms
- empathetic
- empathize
- empath
- empathic

## Related Forms
- pathos
- sympathy
- apathy

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: empátheia
- Root: páthos

## Etymology
A 20th-century coinage modelled on sympathy, from Ancient Greek empátheia ('passion, state of emotion'), from en- ('in') + páthos ('feeling, suffering'); used to render German Einfühlung.

## AI Etymology
Empathy is a 20th-century coinage modelled on sympathy, from Ancient Greek empátheia ('passion, state of emotion'), from en- ('in') + páthos ('feeling, suffering'); used to render German Einfühlung. Important recorded forms include empátheia (Ancient Greek) and páthos (Ancient Greek). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers the ability to understand and share another's feelings. The wider family includes derived forms such as empathetic, empathize, empath, and empathic and related words such as pathos, sympathy, and apathy.

## Topics
- Psychology & Behavior
- Abstract Ideas
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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