Dictionary

empathy en · NOUN

Pronunciation

(Southern-England) audio
/ˈɛmpəθi/

Etymology

A twentieth-century borrowing from Ancient Greek ἐμπάθεια (empátheia, literally “passion”) (formed from ἐν (en, “in, at”) + πάθος (páthos, “feeling”)), equivalent to em- + -pathy, coined by Edward Bradford Titchener in 1909 to translate German Einfühlung. The modern word in Greek εμπάθεια (empátheia) has an opposite meaning denoting strong negative feelings and prejudice against someone.

Meanings

(countable, uncountable) Identification with or understanding of the thoughts, feelings, or emotional state of another person.
- Like your body's in the room but you're not really there / Like you have empathy inside but you don't really care / Like you're fresh outta love but it's been in the air / Am I past repair? 2022 January 28, Em Beihold, Nick Lopez, Dru DeCaro, “Numb Little Bug”, in Egg in the Backseat, performed by Em Beihold:
- While Musk said he believes in empathy and that “you should care about other people,” he also thinks it’s destroying society. 2025 March 5, Zachary B. Wolf, “Elon Musk wants to save Western civilization from empathy”, in CNN, archived from the original on 26 Mar 2025:
- She had a lot of empathy for her neighbor; she knew what it was like to lose a parent too.
(countable, uncountable) The capacity to understand another person's point of view or the result of such understanding.
(countable, uncountable) A paranormal ability to psychically read another person's emotions.
(countable, obsolete, slang, uncountable) MDMA.

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
empathies	Number=Plur		lexicographic

Deriveds

empathist · empathogen · empathical · telempathy · empathy map · empathy belly · suicidal empathy · empath · pseudo-empathy · empathyless · empathic · hyperempathy · double empathy problem · cold empathy · hot empathy · hyperempathetic · empathy game

sympathy · telepathy · technopathy

Synonyms

fellow feeling · ecstasy

Translations (82)

gd iochd (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · be спачува́нне (intellectual identification with another person) · de Empathie (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · de Empathie (intellectual identification with another person) · gd iochd (intellectual identification with another person) · da empati (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · hu empátia (intellectual identification with another person) · sk vcítenie (intellectual identification with another person) · sv empati (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · bg съприча́стие (intellectual identification with another person) · be эмпа́тыя (intellectual identification with another person) · ml സഹാനുഭൂതി (intellectual identification with another person) · sv empati (intellectual identification with another person) · hu beleérzés (intellectual identification with another person) · io empatio (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · ru сопережива́ние (intellectual identification with another person) · da indføling (intellectual identification with another person) · uk співчуття́ (intellectual identification with another person) · be суперажыва́нне (intellectual identification with another person) · mi ngākau aroha (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · uk співпережива́ння (intellectual identification with another person) · fr empathie (intellectual identification with another person) · it empatia (intellectual identification with another person) · nl empathie (intellectual identification with another person) · eo empatio (intellectual identification with another person) · pl empatia (intellectual identification with another person) · pt empatia (intellectual identification with another person) · hu beleérző képesség (intellectual identification with another person) · tr empati (intellectual identification with another person) · vi thấu cảm (intellectual identification with another person) · ko 공감능력 (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · he אֶמְפַּתְיָה (intellectual identification with another person) · ca empatia (intellectual identification with another person) · bg емпа́тия (intellectual identification with another person) · mi ngākau aroha (intellectual identification with another person) · sk empatia (intellectual identification with another person) · uk емпа́тія (intellectual identification with another person) · gd co-fhaireachdainn (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · fi empatia (intellectual identification with another person) · mk емпатија (intellectual identification with another person) · ru эмпа́тия (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · pl empatia (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · ja 共感 (intellectual identification with another person) · is hluttekning (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · vi cộng cảm (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · ar تَعَاطُف (intellectual identification with another person) · es empatía (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · bg съчу́вствие (intellectual identification with another person) · ru сопережива́ние (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · gd co-fhaireachdainn (intellectual identification with another person) · it empatia (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · pt empatia (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · ru сочу́вствие (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · cmn 移情 (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · hi समानुभूति (intellectual identification with another person) · ro empatie (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · de Einfühlung (intellectual identification with another person) · ru сочу́вствие (intellectual identification with another person) · el συμπάθεια (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · nl inlevingsvermogen (intellectual identification with another person) · ko 공감 (intellectual identification with another person) · ka ემპათია (intellectual identification with another person) · nb empati (intellectual identification with another person) · da empati (intellectual identification with another person) · fi empatia (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · fa همدلی (intellectual identification with another person) · el ενσυναίσθηση (intellectual identification with another person) · ml സഹാനുഭൂതി (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · nn empati (intellectual identification with another person) · cmn 移情 (intellectual identification with another person) · ca empatia (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · io empatio (intellectual identification with another person) · de Einfühlungsvermögen (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · ru эмпа́тия (intellectual identification with another person) · cs empatie (intellectual identification with another person) · el κατανόηση (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · hi सहानुभूति (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · id empati (intellectual identification with another person) · ro empatie (intellectual identification with another person) · cmn 同感 (capacity to understand another person's point of view) · es empatía (intellectual identification with another person) · cmn 同感 (intellectual identification with another person)