empathy
- The ability to understand and share the feelings of another person as if experiencing them yourself.
In a sentence
- Good nurses demonstrate empathy by acknowledging their patients' fears without dismissing them.
- Reading literary fiction is thought by some researchers to strengthen empathy in readers.
Usage note. Distinguish 'empathy' (feeling with someone, as if sharing their experience) from 'sympathy' (feeling for someone, often from a position of emotional distance); the two are related but not interchangeable.
Where it comes from
English empathy · entered English early 20th c.
Coined in the early 20th century as a translation of German 'Einfühlung' (feeling-into), a term used in psychology and aesthetics. It was formed in English from Greek 'empatheia' (passion, from 'em-', in + 'pathos', feeling). The English word is recorded from around 1909 and was initially a technical term in psychology before entering general use.