empathy

[em-puh-thee]

noun

1. the psychological identification with or vicarious experiencing of the emotions, thoughts, or attitudes of another.

   She put an arm around her friend’s shoulders and stood by her in silent empathy.

2. the imaginative ascribing to an object, as a natural object or work of art, feelings or attitudes present in oneself.

   By means of empathy, a great painting becomes a mirror of the self.

empathy

/ ˈɛmpəθɪ /

noun

1. the power of understanding and imaginatively entering into another person's feelings See also identification

2. the attribution to an object, such as a work of art, of one's own emotional or intellectual feelings about it

empathy

1. Identifying oneself completely with an object or person, sometimes even to the point of responding physically, as when, watching a baseball player swing at a pitch, one feels one's own muscles flex.

Other Word Forms

• empathist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of empathy¹

First recorded in 1900–05; from Greek empátheia “affection,” equivalent to em- “in, within” ( em- ² ) + path- (base of páschein “to suffer”) + -eia noun suffix ( -ia ); its present meaning translates German Einfühlung

Word History and Origins

Origin of empathy¹

C20: from Greek empatheia affection, passion, intended as a rendering of German Einfühlung, literally: a feeling in; see _en- ², _-pathy

Synonym Study

See sympathy.

Example Sentences

To give hope and instill empathy in those who are tempted to give up the fight.

Read more on Salon

Vision, empathy and intelligence, to name a few.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Even when she appeared nude on screen or dressed up at night in a see-through micro-minidress, she inspired empathy, not jealousy.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"You think you know these people," Winkleman reflected, "and then you watch them play this game, and I was awestruck by the way they played it - with empathy, with wit and with real smarts."

Read more on BBC

Says Steinberg: “She just sings it with so much empathy and warmth.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• affinity 
• compassion 
• identification 
• insight 
• pity 
• rapport 
• understanding 
• warmth 

When To Use

What does empathy mean?

Empathy is the ability or practice of imagining or trying to deeply understand what someone else is feeling or what it’s like to be in their situation.Empathy is often described as the ability to feel what others are feeling as if you are feeling it yourself. To feel empathy for someone is to empathize. People who do this are described as empathetic.Some people use the word empathy interchangeably or in overlapping ways with the word sympathy, which generally means the sharing of emotions with someone else, especially sadness. However, others distinguish the two terms by emphasizing the importance of having empathy for others (feeling their pain) as opposed to having sympathy for them (feeling sorry for them).Example: Having faced many of the same challenges, Nyala has empathy for immigrants and what it feels like to go through those challenges.