compassion means deep awareness of the suffering of others that people have to the point of them being motivated to relieve such states.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, compassion ranks #11,548 of 14,322 for Scariest Words.
compassion is pronounced /kəmˈpæʃ.ən/.
Why “compassion” is a great word
Deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it. From Middle English compassioun, from Old French compassion, from Ecclesiastical Latin compassio ('sympathy'), from Latin compati ('to suffer with'), from com- ('together') + pati ('to suffer'). Unlike 'empathy' (which denotes understanding without the necessary implication of action) or 'pity' (which can be a sorrowful, detached observation), compassion is the felt imperative to enter into and alter the state of suffering. It is the hand placed on a trembling shoulder, the practical silence that listens beyond words, and the cup of water offered without being asked—a willful alignment of one's own heartbeat with another's ache, because to do otherwise would be a quieter kind of violence.
Etymology
From Middle English compassioun, compassion, from Old French compassion, from Ecclesiastical Latin compassio (“sympathy”), from Latin compati, past participle compassus (“to suffer together with”), from com- (“together”) + pati (“to suffer”); see passion. By surface analysis, com- + passion.
noun
- Deep awareness of the suffering of others that people have to the point of them being motivated to relieve such states.e.g.“Oh! the unspeakable privilege to have Him for our Father, who is the Father of mercies and compassions, and those not barren, fruitless pityings, for He is withal the God of all consolations.”
- Deep awareness of the individual experiences of suffering of others or themselves that people have to the point of them being motivated to relieve such experiences, as reflected by the psychological term self-compassion.e.g.“Similarly to the practice of loving kindness, meditation on compassion towards our own experience builds the foundation for expansion of the circle of compassion towards others.”
verb
- To pity.e.g.“O heavens, can you hear a good man groan / And not relent, or not compassion him?”
Words closest in meaning
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