compassionate
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
A pseudo-Latin form of French compassionné, past participle of compassionner (“feel sorry for”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
compassionate (comparative more compassionate, superlative most compassionate)
- Having, feeling or showing compassion (to or toward someone).
- Synonyms: empathetic, sympathetic, ruthful
- The Compassionate, the All-Compassionate(names given to God in Islam)
- 1611, John Donne, An Anatomy of the World, London: Samuel Macham,[1]
- As a compassionate Turcoyse which doth tell
- By looking pale, the wearer is not well,
- 1675, Robert South, A Sermon preached at Christ-Church, in Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, London: Thomas Bennett, 1692, p. 574,[2]
- […] there never was any heart truly great and generous, that was not also tender, and compassionate.
- 1850, Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, London: Bradbury and Evans, Chapter 49, p. 502,[3]
- He was by nature so exceedingly compassionate of anyone who seemed to be ill at ease […] that he shook hands with Mr. Micawber, at least half-a-dozen times in five minutes.
- 2007, Mohsin Hamid, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Orlando: Harcourt, Chapter 7, p. 99,[4]
- […] the compassionate pangs I felt for soon-to-be redundant workers were not overwhelming in their frequency; our job required a degree of commitment that left one with rather limited time for such distractions.
- Given to someone as an exception because of a family emergency or a death in their family.
- (obsolete) Inviting or asking for pity.
- Synonym: pitiable
- c. 1595, William Shakespeare, Richard II, Act I, Scene 3,[5]
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
having, feeling or showing compassion
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given to someone because of a family emergency
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inviting pity; pitiable
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Verb[edit]
compassionate (third-person singular simple present compassionates, present participle compassionating, simple past and past participle compassionated)
- (transitive, archaic) To feel compassion (for someone or with regard to something); to regard (someone or something) with compassion.
- Synonyms: pity, feel sorry for
- 1602, Thomas Lodge (translator), The Famous and Memorable Workes of Josephus, London: G. Bishop et al., Chapter 6, p. 733,[6]
- […] seeing them die so wofully in the flames, he compassionated them.
- 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Dublin: John Smith, Volume 1, Book 2, Chapter 6, p. 83,[7]
- The Justice which Mr. Allworthy had executed on Partridge, at first met with universal Approbation; but no sooner had he felt its Consequences, than his Neighbours began to relent, and to compassionate his Case;
- 1794, William Godwin, Things as They Are; or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams, London: B. Crosby, Volume 2, Chapter 1, p. 4,[8]
- And yet I could not help bitterly compassionating the honest fellow, brought to the gallows, as he was, strictly speaking, by the machinations of that devil incarnate, Mr. Tyrrel.
- 1847, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, London: Smith, Elder, Volume 1, Chapter 3, p. 38,[9]
- “ […] if she were a nice, pretty child, one might compassionate her forlornness; but one really cannot care for such a little toad as that.”
- 1855, Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom, New York: Miller, Orton & Mulligan, Chapter 17, p. 236,[10]
- I explained the circumstances of the past two days, which had driven me to the woods, and he deeply compassionated my distress.
Translations[edit]
to feel compassion for
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Italian[edit]
Verb[edit]
compassionate
Categories:
- English terms derived from French
- English 4-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with archaic senses
- Italian non-lemma forms
- Italian verb forms
- Italian past participle forms