What does compassion mean?
Compassion is a noun describing the heartfelt awareness of another person's suffering combined with a genuine desire to ease it. It goes beyond passive pity: where pity may simply acknowledge misfortune from a distance, compassion involves emotionally standing with the sufferer and wanting to help. The word appears frequently in discussions of ethics, religion, healthcare, and social policy — one speaks of showing compassion, acting out of compassion, or suffering compassion fatigue when constant exposure to others' distress erodes that capacity. Its Latin roots literally mean 'to suffer together', a fact that captures its essence: shared feeling rather than detached observation. Compassion is uniformly positive in connotation and is widely regarded as a core moral virtue across cultures and traditions, making it a valuable and resonant word in both everyday speech and formal writing.
nounA deep awareness of the suffering of another person, together with the desire to relieve it; sympathetic pity and concern for others.
- Sympathetic concern for the suffering of others, coupled with a wish to help relieve it.
"Her compassion toward refugees inspired the whole community to volunteer."
"The nurse treated every patient with remarkable compassion."
"He showed real compassion by listening patiently to a stranger in distress."
Compassion is normally uncountable. The plural form is rare and found mostly in older or literary texts referring to distinct acts or expressions of compassion.
"His compassions never fail — Lamentations 3:22"
The word 'compassion' literally means 'to suffer with' — its Latin root pairs com- ('together') with pati ('to suffer'), so feeling compassion is, etymologically, sharing someone's pain rather than just observing it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of compassion
Compassion entered English in the Middle Ages via Old French, deriving from Late Latin compassio, formed from com- ('together') and pati ('to suffer'), so it originally meant 'suffering alongside another'. It shares this Latin root with words such as passion, passive, patient, and compatible. The term carried strong religious overtones in early usage, often describing Christ's or the saints' fellow-feeling for human suffering, before broadening to its modern general sense of sympathetic concern.
Related word forms
How compassion is actually used
Compassion is a formal-to-neutral word common in ethical, religious, and caregiving contexts. It carries an unambiguously positive connotation and implies more active concern than mere pity, which can suggest looking down on the sufferer.
Easily confused with compassion
A compass is a navigational instrument that shows direction, while compassion is a feeling of concern for others' suffering; the words merely share a similar opening.