Empathy Is Barely a Century Old
Empathy means feeling with someone. The word was invented around 1909 to translate a German term from art theory, which makes it very young.
Empathy is the ability to feel what another person is feeling, or at least to imagine it accurately. The word is young: it was coined about 1909 to translate the German *Einfühlung*, feeling-into, a term from writing about art. Sympathy is centuries older.
- Understanding another's feelings by sharing them. *She listened with real empathy.*
- Imagining yourself in another's position. *Empathy for the reader.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | empathy | A lack of empathy. |
| Adjective | empathetic | An empathetic manager. |
| Adjective | empathic | Empathic responses. |
| Verb | empathise / empathize | I empathise with her. |
| Related | sympathy | My sympathies. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Good nurses are trained in empathy as well as anatomy.Treated as a professional skill.
- I empathise with anyone who has moved house twice in a year.Empathise takes with.
- The design shows no empathy for the people using it.Empathy extended to work, not only people.
Empathy or sympathy?
- Empathy — feeling with someone, sharing the experience
- Sympathy — feeling for someone, usually pity or condolence
- Compassion — sympathy plus the urge to help
- Pity — feeling for someone from above; often unwelcome
- Emotional intelligence — the broader skill empathy belongs to
From Greek *empatheia*, physical affection or passion, from *en* (in) and *pathos* (feeling). Psychologists took the Greek pieces and built a new English word for a new idea, rather than inheriting one.
Empathetic or empathic?
Both are standard. Empathetic is more common in everyday writing, empathic in psychology.
Can empathy be learned?
Research suggests it can be strengthened by practice, particularly by listening and by reading fiction, even if people start from different baselines.