"affinity between certain things", from Middle French sympathie, from Late Latin...
(Source: Online Etymology) [more]
a feeling and concern. Or it can be the perception, understanding, and reaction to the distress or need of another human being. This empathic concern is driven by a switch in viewpoint, from a personal perspective to the perspective of another group or... (43 of 3755 words, 4 images)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympathy
when a person's feelings reflect or are like those of another person. Sympathy may also refer to: Sympathy (band), a Canadian technical death metal band formed in 1991 | sympathy (Hitomi Takahashi album), 2006 | Sympathy (John Miles album), 1980 | ... (38 of 161 words, 12 definitions)
the sharing of another's emotions, especially of sorrow or anguish; pity; compassion | an affinity or harmony, usually of feelings or interests, ... (21 of 528 words, 6 definitions, 11 usage examples, pronunciation)
an affinity, association, or relationship between persons or things wherein ... | inclination to think or feel alike; emotional or intellectual accord ... (21 of 290 words, 4 definitions, 4 usage examples, pronunciation)
[uncountable] a natural feeling of kindness and understanding that you have for someone who is experiencing something very unpleasant | [uncountable] ... (20 of 189 words, 4 definitions, 9 usage examples, pronunciation)
www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/sympathy
feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else's misfortune | ("one's sympathies") : the formal expression of pity or sorrow for someone else's ... (22 of 185 words, 8 definitions, 7 usage examples, pronunciation)
harmony of or agreement in feeling, as between persons or on the part of one person with respect to another. | the harmony of feeling naturally ... (25 of 163 words, 9 definitions, 3 usage examples, pronunciation)
A relationship or an affinity between people or things in which whatever affects one correspondingly affects the other. | Mutual understanding or ... (21 of 139 words, 7 definitions, 2 usage examples, pronunciation)
sameness of feeling; affinity between persons or of one person for another | [rare] agreement in qualities; harmony; accord | a mutual liking or ... (22 of 127 words, 7 definitions, pronunciation)
(an expression of) understanding and care for someone else's suffering | "offer/send your sympathies": [formal] to express your sadness to someone ... (20 of 78 words, 2 definitions, 3 usage examples, pronunciation)
dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/sympathy 1
support and agreement | "sympathies": support | "come out in sympathy with sb": to stop working in order to show your support for other workers who ... (24 of 68 words, 3 definitions, 4 usage examples, pronunciation)
A feeling of pity or sorrow for the suffering or distress of another; compassion. | The ability to share the feelings of another | A mutual relationship between people or things such that they are correspondingly affected by any condition. (38 of 58 words, 3 definitions, 1 usage example, pronunciation)
the ability to enter into, understand, or share somebody else's feelings | the feelings of somebody who enters into or shares another's feelings | the ... (23 of 137 words, 6 definitions, pronunciation)
encarta.msn.com/dictionary 1861717685/definition.html [offline]
First use: 1570s
Origin: "affinity between certain things", from Middle French sympathie, from Late Latin sympathia "community of feeling, sympathy", from Greek ... (19 of 86 etymology words)
Origin: Latin sympathīa, from Greek sumpatheia, from sumpathēs, affected by like feelings: sun-, syn- + pathos, emotion; see kwenth- in Indo-European roots.
Origin: Middle French sympathie, from Late Latin sympathia, from Ancient Greek συμπάθεια (sumpatheia), from σύν (sun, "with, together") + πάθος (pathos, "suffering").
First use: 1579
Origin: Latin sympathia, from Greek sympatheia, from sympathēs having common feelings, sympathetic, from syn- + pathos feelings, emotion, experience
First use: late 16th century
Origin: (in "..."): via Latin from Greek sumpatheia, from sumpathēs, from sun- "with" + pathos "feeling"
First use: 16th century
Origin: from Latin sympathīa, from Greek sumpatheia, from sumpathēs, from syn- + pathos suffering
Origin: Latin sympathia from Greek sympatheia from syn-, together + pathos, feeling: see "pathos"
First use: Late 16th century
Origin: Latin sympathia from Greek sumpatheia from sumpathēs "feeling with" from pathos "feeling"
encarta.msn.com/dictionary 1861717685/definition.html [offline]
Audio: North American pronunciation of "sympathy"
www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/american/sympathy
Audio: British English pronunciation of "sympathy"
www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/sympathy
Audio: North American pronunciation of "sympathy"
www.merriam-webster.com/audio.php file=sympat09 word=sympathy
Page last updated: 2013-06-26