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empathy

 - 6 dictionary results

em⋅pa⋅thy

  [em-puh-thee]
–noun
1. the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another.
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.
Use empathy in a Sentence
Origin:
1900–05; < Gk empátheia affection, equiv. to em- em- 2 + path- (base of páschein to suffer) + -eia -ia; present meaning translates G Einfühlung

Synonyms:
1. See sympathy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To empathy
em·pa·thy   (ěm'pə-thē)   
n.  

  1. Identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives. See Synonyms at pity.

  2. The attribution of one's own feelings to an object.


[en-2 + -pathy (translation of German Einfühlung).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

empathy [(em-puh-thee)]

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.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

empathy 
1903, translation of Ger. Einfühlung (from ein "in" + Fühlung "feeling"), coined 1858 by Ger. philosopher Rudolf Lotze (1817-81) from Gk. empatheia "passion," from en- "in" + pathos "feeling" (see pathos). A term from a theory of art appreciation. Empathize (v.) was coined 1924; empathic (adj.) is from 1909.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: em·pa·thy
Pronunciation: 'em-p&-thE
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -thies
1 : theimaginative projection of a subjective state into an object so that the object appears to be infused with it
2 : 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 objectivelyexplicit manner; also : the capacity for empathy
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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empathy em·pa·thy (ěm'pə-thē)
n.

  1. Direct identification with, understanding of, and vicarious experience of another person's situation, feelings, and motives.

  2. The projection of one's own feelings or emotional state onto an object or animal.

em'pa·thet'ic (-thět'ĭk) or em·path'ic (-pāth'ĭk) adj.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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