theopathy

American  

[thee-op-uh-thee] / θiˈɒp ə θi /

noun

1. religious emotion excited by the contemplation of God.

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theopathy British  

/ θɪˈɒpəθɪ, ˌθɪəpəˈθɛtɪk, ˌθɪəˈpæθɪk /

noun

1. religious emotion engendered by the contemplation of or meditation upon God

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Other Word Forms

• theopathetic adjective
• theopathic adjective

Etymology

Origin of theopathy

First recorded in 1740–50; theo- + (sym)pathy

Example Sentences

Theopathy, thē-ōp′a-thi, n. religious emotion aroused by meditation about God.—adj.

From Project Gutenberg

He shows elaborately how the pleasures and pains of “imagination, ambition, self-interest, sympathy, theopathy, and the moral sense” are developed out of the elementary pleasures and pains of sensation; by the coalescence into really complex but apparently single ideas of the “miniatures” or faint feelings which the repetition of sensations contemporaneously or in immediate succession tends to produce in cohering groups.

From Project Gutenberg

"Ecstasy of a religious nature" brings forth theopathy.

From Time Magazine Archive

Generous of heart, he was filled with bitter suspicions; inordinately proud, he nursed his pride amid sordid realities; cherishing ideals of purity and innocence, he sank deep in the mire of imaginative sensuality; effeminate, he was also indomitable; an uncompromising optimist, he saw the whole world lying in wickedness; a passionate lover of freedom, he aimed at establishing the most unqualified of tyrannies; among the devout he was a free-thinker, among the philosophers he was the sentimentalist of theopathy.

From Project Gutenberg

It is an indication of the current of the time that fifteen years later, when the Libres M�ditations appeared, S�nancourt had found his way through a vague theopathy to autumnal brightness, late-born hope, and tranquil reconcilement with existence.

From Project Gutenberg