Friday, 11 November 2016

Empathy

Friday 11th November 2016

Empathy - /ˈɛmpəθi/

Noun
[mass noun] The ability to understand and share the feelings of another.


Example sentences
Noun
‘Finally, proximity makes for empathy and justifies the inevitable risks for intervention’
‘A little bit of empathy and understanding might go a long way in making their life easier’


Usage
People often confuse the words empathy and sympathy. Empathy means ‘the ability to understand and share the feelings of another’ (as in both authors have the skill to make you feel empathy with their heroines), whereas sympathy means ‘feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else's misfortune’ (as in they had great sympathy for the flood victims)

Origin
Early 20th century: from Greek empatheia (from em- in + pathos feeling) translating German Einfühlung.


Thanks to: www.oxforddictionaries.com

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