sympathetic

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin sympathēticus,^[2][3][4][5] from Ancient Greek συμπαθητικός (sumpathētikós, “having sympathy”),^[3][4][2] from συμπαθής (sumpathḗs, “affected by like feelings”), the source of sympathy.^[3][4] The OED derives the Greek word from the verb συμπαθέω (sumpathéō), formed after παθητικός (pathētikós), the source of pathetic;^[2] the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English treat sympathetic as an English formation from sympathy on the pattern of pathetic.^[6][7] In the anatomical sense it continues New Latin nervus sympathicus, a term coined by the anatomist Jacques-Bénigne Winslow.^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Relating to "sympathy" in the old sense, an affinity or hidden influence between things, especially as a means of healing: 1640s according to Etymonline, 1644 according to Merriam-Webster; the OED's first example is from Glanvill in 1661.^[3][8][2]

Semantic evolution

The earliest uses belong to the idea of occult correspondences, as in sympathetic magic.^[2][7] From 1684 the adjective was used of what expresses fellow-feeling, and in Prior (a1718) of people who share the feelings of others, the main modern sense.^[2][3] Physiology used it from 1728 for a disorder induced in one part of the body by another, and anatomy from 1771 (Etymonline: 1769) for the sympathetic nervous system.^[2][3] From 1721 sympathetic ink was invisible ink; physics used it from 1832 of vibrations set up in one body by another.^[2] Under the influence of French sympathique it came to mean pleasant or likeable (1900, in Beerbohm), and 19th- and 20th-century English also borrowed the French, pseudo-German, Spanish and Italian forms of the word.^[2][3] The noun, a sympathetic nerve, dates from 1808, and a person susceptible to hypnosis from 1888.^[2][3][8]

Timeline

• 1644 – relating to sympathy as an occult affinity.^[8][3]
• 1661 – the OED's first example of this sense.^[2]
• 1684 – expressing fellow-feeling.^[2][3]
• a1718 – feeling sympathy for others, compassionate.^[2][3]
• 1721 – sympathetic ink, invisible ink.^[2]
• 1771 – of the sympathetic nervous system.^[2]
• 1808 – noun, a sympathetic nerve.^[2][8]
• 1832 – of vibrations induced by another body.^[2]
• 1900 – likeable, pleasant.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Feeling, showing or expressing sympathy or understanding for others; compassionate: a sympathetic nurse.
2. In agreement with or in favour of something, often followed by to: The council was sympathetic to the residents' request.
3. Suited to one's mood or temperament; congenial; of a character, likeable.
4. (anatomy, physiology) Relating to the sympathetic nervous system.
5. (physics, music) Produced by vibrations passed from another body: sympathetic strings.
6. Relating to an assumed affinity or influence between separate things, as in sympathetic magic.

Noun

1. (anatomy) A sympathetic nerve or the sympathetic nervous system.

Word family

• sympathetically
• nonsympathetic
• unsympathetic
• parasympathetic
• sympathetic nervous system
• sympathetic magic

Related words

• sympathy
• sympathize
• pathetic
• empathy
• pathos
• apathy

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster