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compassion
noun
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What is the difference between empathy and compassion?
Compassion and empathy both refer to a caring response to someone else’s distress. While empathy refers to an active sharing in the emotional experience of the other person, compassion adds to that emotional experience a desire to alleviate the person’s distress.
… the story of Nellie Bly, the first female investigative reporter, who not only demanded justice from powerful institutions, but also insisted on dignity and compassion for the most vulnerable citizens. — The Christian Science Monitor, 17 Aug. 2022
Blonde clearly wants us to feel for Norma Jeane, but it dwells on her pain so obsessively … that the movie's empathy feels like another form of exploitation. — Justin Chang, NPR, 23 Sept. 2022
The distinction between compassion and empathy is frequently a topic of exploration.
By empathy I mean feeling the feelings of other people. So if you’re in pain and I feel your pain—I am feeling empathy toward you. If you’re being anxious, I pick up your anxiety. If you’re sad and I pick up your sadness, I’m being empathetic. And that’s different from compassion. Compassion means I give your concern weight, I value it. I care about you, but I don’t necessarily pick up your feelings. … [I]f I feel compassion for you, I’ll be invigorated. I’ll be happy and I’ll try to make your life better. — Paul Bloom, quoted in Vox, 16 Jan. 2019
Compassion is a much older word; it’s been part of the language since the 14th century, and comes ultimately from Latin com- and pati, meaning “to bear, suffer.” Empathy is a 20th century coinage modeled on sympathy as a translation of the German Einfühlung (“feeling-in” or “feeling into”). It was first applied in contexts of philosophy, aesthetics, and psychology and continues to have technical use in those fields.
pity, compassion, commiseration, condolence, sympathy mean the act or capacity for sharing the painful feelings of another.
pity implies tender or sometimes slightly contemptuous sorrow for one in misery or distress.
compassion implies pity coupled with an urgent desire to aid or to spare.
commiseration suggests pity expressed outwardly in exclamations, tears, or words of comfort.
condolence applies chiefly to formal expression of grief to one who has suffered loss.
sympathy often suggests a tender concern but can also imply a power to enter into another's emotional experience of any sort.
Examples of compassion in a Sentence
Word History
Middle English, from Anglo-French or Late Latin; Anglo-French, from Late Latin compassion-, compassio, from compati to sympathize, from Latin com- + pati to bear, suffer — more at patient
14th century, in the meaning defined above
Phrases Containing compassion
Dictionary Entries Near compassion
Cite this Entry
“Compassion.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/compassion. Accessed 10 Dec. 2024.
Kids Definition
compassion
nounMore from Merriam-Webster on compassion
Nglish: Translation of compassion for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of compassion for Arabic Speakers
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