Main Entry:

em·pa·thy

Pronunciation:

\ˈem-pə-thē\

Function:

noun

Etymology:

Greek empatheia, literally, passion, from empathēs emotional, from em- + pathos feelings, emotion — more at pathos

Date:

1850

1: the imaginative projection of a subjective state into an object so that the object appears to be infused with it2: the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner ; also : the capacity for this