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