EMPATHY


Meaning of EMPATHY in English

ˈempəthē, -thi noun

( -es )

Etymology: en- (II) + -pathy; translation of German einfühlung

1. : the imaginative projection of a subjective state whether affective, conative, or cognitive into an object so that the object appears to be infused with it : the reading of one's own state of mind or conation into an object (as an artistic object)

without empathy an artistic emotion is purely intellectual and associative — W.H.Wright

2. : the capacity for participating in or a vicarious experiencing of another's feelings, volitions, or ideas and sometimes another's movements to the point of executing bodily movements resembling his

the goal of all reading is empathy with the content and the spirit of the material read — Stella Center

an example of empathy is a feeding situation in which a fright experienced by the mother results in eating disturbances on the part of the child — G.S.Blum

Synonyms: see sympathy

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.