English
empathy
Empathy comes from Ancient Greek ἐμπάθεια ‘physical affection’, and goes back to ἐμπαθής ‘emotional’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἐμπαθής‘emotional’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἐμπάθεια‘physical affection’literally ‘passion’
- Englishearliest quotation 2022empathy
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἐμπαθής‘emotional’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἐμπάθεια‘physical affection’literally ‘passion’
- Englishearliest quotation 2022empathy
Earliest quotation: 2022, Em Beihold, Numb Little Bug: “Like your body's in the room but you're not…”
Formed from em- + -pathy
The story
A twentieth-century borrowing from Ancient Greek ἐμπάθεια (empátheia, literally “passion”) (formed from ἐν (en, “in, at”) + πάθος (páthos, “feeling”)), equivalent to em- + -pathy, coined by Edward Bradford Titchener in 1909 to translate German Einfühlung. The modern word in Greek εμπάθεια (empátheia) has an opposite meaning denoting strong negative feelings and prejudice against someone.
Every English word from Ancient Greek ἐμπαθής
Today it means
noun Identification with or understanding of the thoughts, feelings, or emotional state of another person.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek ἐμπαθής / empathy