pathos

[ pey-thos, -thohs, -thaws ]
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noun
  1. the quality or power in an actual life experience or in literature, music, speech, or other forms of expression, of evoking a feeling of pity, or of sympathetic and kindly sorrow or compassion.

  1. Obsolete. suffering.

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Origin of pathos

1
First recorded in 1570–80; from Greek páthos “suffering, sensation, experience,” akin to páschein “to suffer, feel, be affected”; cf. pathetic

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British Dictionary definitions for pathos

pathos

/ (ˈpeɪθɒs) /


noun
  1. the quality or power, esp in literature or speech, of arousing feelings of pity, sorrow, etc

  2. a feeling of sympathy or pity: a stab of pathos

Origin of pathos

1
C17: from Greek: suffering; related to penthos sorrow

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012