I. ˈpid.]ē, -it], ]i\ noun
( -es )
Etymology: Middle English pite, from Old French pitez, pitié, pité, from Latin pietat-, pietas piety, compassion, from pie- (from pius pious) + -tat-, -tas -ty — more at pious
1. archaic : mercy , clemency
saw that his judge was inclining to mercy, and he renewed his appeals for pity — J.H.Shorthouse
2.
a.
(1) : sympathetic heartfelt sorrow for one that is suffering physically or mentally or that is otherwise distressed or unhappy (as through misfortune, difficulties) : compassion , commiseration
felt the deepest pity for the prisoners
(2) : the capacity to feel such sorrow
was habitually hardhearted and without pity
b. : a somewhat disdainful or contemptuous feeling of regret over the condition of one viewed by the speaker as in some way inferior or reprehensible
leaves us less with a sense of repugnance … than with a sense of pity for the man who could think of nothing better — T.S.Eliot
3. : a cause of regret : a condition or circumstance that is to be regretted
what a pity that you didn't get here sooner
it's a pity that we can't be friends
Synonyms: see sympathy
•
- for pity's sake
- have pity
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
transitive verb
1. chiefly dialect : to cause to feel pity : move to pity
it would pity one's heart to observe the change — William Whiston
2. : to feel pity for
pitied them in their distress
whom everybody pities because his daughter has disgraced him — Edmund Wilson
intransitive verb
: to feel pity : have pity
will not pity , nor spare, nor have mercy — Jer 13:14 (Authorized Version)