empathy
sensitivity towards others
TRANSLATION
empathy = die Einfühlung, das Einfühlungsvermögen, die Empathie, das Mitgefühl, die Einfühlsamkeit to empathise with someone = jemandem etwas nachempfinden (woerterbuch.info) --- GOOGLE INDEX empathy: approximately 12,500,000 hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Although you need academic qualifications to come into the programme, the recruiters are looking for people who have good social skills, who are good communicators and who have some EMPATHY with people who have health and social care problems…
(adapted from The Guardian)
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The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of EMPATHY.
- actress Meryl Streep
(adapted from The Guardian)
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The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of EMPATHY.
- actress Meryl Streep
Did you
know?
empathy
noun
- the ability to share someone else's feelings or experiences by imagining what it would be like to be in their situation
empathise (verb)
empathetic (adjective)
(Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)
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WORD ORIGIN
German metaphysics philosopher Rudolf Lotze created the term empathy as a translation for the German word "Einfühlung", borrowing from the Greek empatheia meaning passion (em = in, pathos = feeling). Apart from making influential contributions to the fields of medicine and philosophy, Lotze was also an art lover and his translation was based on the theory that art appreciation depends on the viewer’s ability to project his personality into the object.
A closely related word is sympathy**. Although most dictionaries list sympathy as a synonym for empathy, there is a fine difference. We sympathise with people whose troubles are different from ours, but we empathise with people in the same boat. You could also describe the difference this way: "I feel your pain" is empathy, but "I can imagine your pain" is sympathy. In this context, pain means psychological suffering.
** false-friend warning! The German "sympathisch" = likable, friendly or congenial, while the English sympathetic = "mitfühlend".
(sources: U.S. National Library of Medicine, Wikipedia, The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology)
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SYNONYMS
to empathise (noun)
affinity, appreciation, communion, compassion, comprehension, concord, fellow feeling, good vibrations, insight, pity, rapport, recognition, responsiveness, soul, sympathy, understanding, warmth
to empathise (verb)
comprehend, put yourself in someone else’s shoes, put yourself in another's place, relate to, understand, sympathise
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition)
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ANTONYMS
animus, antagonism, antipathy
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition)
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SMUGGLE OWAD INTO A CONVERSATION TODAY
say something like:
"Social service workers need lots of empathy."
noun
- the ability to share someone else's feelings or experiences by imagining what it would be like to be in their situation
empathise (verb)
empathetic (adjective)
(Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)
---
WORD ORIGIN
German metaphysics philosopher Rudolf Lotze created the term empathy as a translation for the German word "Einfühlung", borrowing from the Greek empatheia meaning passion (em = in, pathos = feeling). Apart from making influential contributions to the fields of medicine and philosophy, Lotze was also an art lover and his translation was based on the theory that art appreciation depends on the viewer’s ability to project his personality into the object.
A closely related word is sympathy**. Although most dictionaries list sympathy as a synonym for empathy, there is a fine difference. We sympathise with people whose troubles are different from ours, but we empathise with people in the same boat. You could also describe the difference this way: "I feel your pain" is empathy, but "I can imagine your pain" is sympathy. In this context, pain means psychological suffering.
** false-friend warning! The German "sympathisch" = likable, friendly or congenial, while the English sympathetic = "mitfühlend".
(sources: U.S. National Library of Medicine, Wikipedia, The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology)
---
SYNONYMS
to empathise (noun)
affinity, appreciation, communion, compassion, comprehension, concord, fellow feeling, good vibrations, insight, pity, rapport, recognition, responsiveness, soul, sympathy, understanding, warmth
to empathise (verb)
comprehend, put yourself in someone else’s shoes, put yourself in another's place, relate to, understand, sympathise
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition)
---
ANTONYMS
animus, antagonism, antipathy
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition)
---
SMUGGLE OWAD INTO A CONVERSATION TODAY
say something like:
"Social service workers need lots of empathy."
