Link Centre Dictionary

compassion

com·pas·sion

UK/kəmˈpæʃ.ən/ US/kʌˈmpæʃʌn/ fairly common

noun

1.

a deep awareness of and sympathy for another''s suffering

Synonyms
2.

the humane quality of understanding the suffering of others and wanting to do something about it

Synonyms

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • compassion fatigue
  • what a pity

Related words

Word family

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.