compassio
Pronunciation
Forms
compassiō f (genitive compassiōnis); third declension[1]
Etymology
It is from Latin compatior (“to suffer with, feel pity”) + -tiō, formed on the participle stem ⟨compass-⟩ of the verb.[2][3][4][5] Wiktionary analyses it as con- and passiō (“suffering”).[1] It was made in the Church as a translation of Ancient Greek συμπάθεια (sumpátheia, “fellow feeling, sympathy”);[1][5] Priscian says that the Greeks call the same thing by that name.[2][3]
Earliest recorded meaning
The TLL's first author is Tertullian, who in his work on the resurrection of the flesh speaks of what is promised for the flesh's suffering together with the soul.[2][6][7] In the same work he uses compassiō sententiārum of a sharing of opinions, an agreement.[8][6]
Semantic evolution
Christian writers of the 4th century used it of suffering shared with another: Hilary of Poitiers of those who fast and are joined to the Lord in fellowship of suffering, Ambrose of the soul that, poured into the body, groans in sympathy with it.[2] From this it became the word for compassion and pity;[3][4][9] Jerome speaks of the compassiō of mercy.[3][4][9] Late Latin also used it for pain itself, and the Novels of Justinian for favour or goodwill.[4]
Medieval Latin kept the senses of pity and fellow feeling, also in charters, and used it in medicine of a part of the body that falls ill along with another.[10][9] It could also mean help given out of mercy, consent and, in music, harmony.[10] It is the source of Italian compassione;[4] English compassion came from it through Old French in the mid-14th century, and in Middle English it sometimes meant a real sharing of another's suffering.[5]
Timeline
- c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of a suffering together and of an agreement of opinions.[2][8][7]
- c. 315–367/368 AD – Hilary of Poitiers speaks of a fellowship of suffering with the Lord.[2][7]
- c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose writes of the soul groaning in sympathy with the body.[2][7]
- c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it of the compassion of mercy.[3][7]
- 6th century AD – Priscian equates it with the Greek term.[2][3][7]
- mid-14th century – English compassion is borrowed through Old French.[5]
Meanings
Noun
- (Late Latin) A suffering together, fellow suffering.[8][2][6][4]
- (Late Latin) Fellow feeling, sympathy; agreement (of opinions).[8][6][4][1]
- (Ecclesiastical Latin, Medieval Latin) Compassion, pity.[4][9][10][1]
- (Late Latin) Pain, suffering.[4][10]
- (Late Latin) Favour, goodwill.[4][10]
- (Medieval Latin, medicine) A falling ill together (of parts of the body).[10]
- (Medieval Latin, music) Consonance, harmony.[10]
Related words
- passiō
- patior
- English compassion
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
- ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
- ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
- ^ a b c d e f g Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften