empathy
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empathy
- /ˈɛmpəθi/
Where it comes from
A 20th-century borrowing from Ancient Greek ἐμπάθεια (empátheia, literally “passion”) (formed from ἐν (en, “in, at”) + πάθος (páthos, “feeling”)), equivalent to em- + -pathy, coined by Edward Bradford Titchener in 1909 to translate German Einfühlung. The modern word in Greek εμπάθεια (empátheia) has an opposite meaning denoting strong negative feelings and prejudice against someone.
noun empathies
-
Identification with or understanding of the thoughts, feelings, or emotional state of another person.
She had a lot of empathy for her neighbor; she knew what it was like to lose a parent too.
Similar: fellow feeling
- The capacity to understand another person's point of view or the result of such understanding.
- A paranormal ability to psychically read another person's emotions.
-
MDMA.
Similar: ecstasy
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: empathetic, compassion, sympathetic, sympathy, compassionate, commiseration, caring, feeling, liking, sensitivity, understanding, rapport, solidarity, roe, insight, fellow-feeling
Translations
Every language
noun intellectual identification with another person
| Español | empatía |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 공감 gonggam |
| 日本語 | 共感 kyōkan |
| 中文 | 移情 yíqíng, 同感 tónggǎn |
| हिन्दी | समानुभूति samānubhūti |
| Português | empatia |
| Français | empathie |
| Deutsch | Empathie, Einfühlung |
| Italiano | empatia |
| Ελληνικά | ενσυναίσθηση ensynaísthisi |
| Română | empatie |
| Русский | сочу́вствие sočúvstvije, эмпа́тия empátija, сопережива́ние sopereživánije |
| Tiếng Việt | thấu cảm |
| العربية | تَعَاطُف taʕāṭuf |
| עברית | אֶמְפַּתְיָה empátya |
noun capacity to understand another person's point of view
| Español | empatía |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 공감능력 gonggam-neungnyeok |
| 中文 | 移情 yíqíng, 同感 tónggǎn |
| हिन्दी | सहानुभूति sahānubhūti |
| Português | empatia |
| Deutsch | Einfühlungsvermögen, Empathie |
| Italiano | empatia |
| Ελληνικά | κατανόηση katanóisi, συμπάθεια sympátheia |
| Română | empatie |
| Русский | сочу́вствие sočúvstvije, сопережива́ние sopereživánije, эмпа́тия empátija |
| Tiếng Việt | cộng cảm |
Talk about this word "empathy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/empathy. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. empathy. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/empathy "empathy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/empathy.Cite this
@misc{empathy_2026,
title = {empathy},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/empathy},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
