συμπάθεια

Forms

σῠμπᾰ́θειᾰ (sumpátheia) f (genitive σῠμπᾰθείᾱς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek συμπαθής (sumpathḗs, “affected by the same feelings”) + -ια (-ia).^[1] The adjective is formed from σύν (sún, “with”) and πάθος (páthos, “feeling, suffering”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

LSJ's earliest citation is the title of a book of the Aristotelian Problems, where it means fellow feeling.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was fellow feeling, and Diodorus uses it for pity.^[3] Philosophers used it for the mutual affection of things: Epicurus for the affinity of body and soul, and the Stoics for the mutual bond of the parts of the universe.^[3] Polybius uses it for the sympathetic vibration of bronze vessels, and Theon of Smyrna for strings that vibrate together.^[3][4] Astrologers used it for the concord of heavenly bodies, grammarians for analogy, and physicians such as Soranus and Galen for an affection of one part of the body through another.^[3]

Latin borrowed it as sympathia, and Cicero writes the Greek word in his letters.^[1][3] English sympathy comes from French sympathie and Late Latin sympathia; it is recorded from the 1580s, first in the sense of an affinity between things.^[2] Modern Greek συμπάθεια (sympátheia) is a learned word meaning liking or sympathy.^[5]

Timeline

• 4th century BC – A book of the Aristotelian Problems has it in its title, in the sense of fellow feeling.^[3][6]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for the sympathetic vibration of bronze vessels.^[3][4][6]
• 1st century BC – Diodorus uses it in the sense of pity.^[3][6]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Soranus uses it for a sympathetic affection of the body.^[3][6]
• 2nd century AD – Vettius Valens uses it for the concord of heavenly bodies, and Apollonius Dyscolus for grammatical analogy.^[3][6]
• 1580s – English borrows it, through French and Late Latin, as sympathy.^[2]
• Modern Greek – συμπάθεια (sympátheia) means liking or sympathy.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Fellow feeling, sympathy; pity.^[3][4]
2. (philosophy) Corresponding affection, affinity between things.^[3]
3. (music) The vibrating together of strings or vessels; resonance.^[3][4]
4. (astrology) The concord of heavenly bodies.^[3]
5. (grammar) Analogy.^[3]
6. (medicine) An affection of one part of the body through another, as opposed to ἰδιοπάθεια (idiopátheia).^[3]

Related words

• συμπαθέω (sumpathéō)
• συμπαθής (sumpathḗs)
• πάθος (páthos)
• Latin sympathia
• English sympathy

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
6. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge