▪ I. compassion, n.
(kəmˈpæʃən)
Also 4–5 -ioun, -ione, 4–6 -yon, 5 compascyon.
[a. F. compassion (14th c. in Littré), ad. late L. compassiōn-em (Tertullian, Jerome), n. of action f. compati (ppl. stem compass-) to suffer together with, feel pity, f. com- together with + pati to suffer.]
† 1. Suffering together with another, participation in suffering; fellow-feeling, sympathy. Obs.
| 1340 Ayenb. 148 Huanne on leme is zik oþer y-wonded. hou moche zorȝe heþ þe herte and grat compassion y-uelþ. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. i. (1495) 100 The membres ben so sette togyders that..euery hath compassyon of other. 1561 Eden Arte de Nauig. Pref., Such a mutuall compassion of parte to parte..by one common sence existent in them all. 1625 Gill Sacr. Philos. iv. 63 That it was onely by a vegetable or animall soule, which suffered by compassion with the body. |
2. The feeling or emotion, when a person is moved by the suffering or distress of another, and by the desire to relieve it; pity that inclines one to spare or to succour. Const. on (of obs.).
(The compassion of sense 1 was between equals or fellow-sufferers; this is shown towards a person in distress by one who is free from it, who is, in this respect, his superior.)
| c 1340 Hampole Prose Tr. 36 Þou may thynke of synnes and of wrechidnes of thyne euencristene..with pete and of compassione of thaym. 1535 Coverdale Joel ii. 12 The Lorde..is..longe sufferynge & of greate compassion. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iv. i. 56 Mou'd with compassion of my Countries wracke. 1632 Lithgow Trav. ix. (1682) 386 In Compassion whereof the worthy Gentleman doubled his Wages. 1676 Hobbes Iliad i. 23 You on me compassion may show. 1770 Junius' Lett. xxxvi. 170 You have every claim to compassion that can arise from misery and distress. 1823 Southey Hist. Penins. War I. 352 In compassion to her grief, and in answer to her prayers. 1876 Mozley Univ. Serm. vii. 148 Compassion..gives the person who feels it pleasure even in the very act of ministering to and succouring pain. |
† b. with plural. Obs. or arch.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 262 All the compassyons & mercyes that thou shewed to the people. 1611 Bible Lam. iii. 22 His compassions faile not. 1787 Whitaker Mary Q. Scots Vind. in H. Campbell Love-Lett. Mary (1824) 263 All the little jealousies of the rival will surely melt away in the compassions of the woman. |
c. to have compassion: to have pity, take pity. So † to take compassion (upon, of).
| 1382 Wyclif Heb. x. 34 For whi and to boundun men ȝe hadden compassioun. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 390 Prol., And han of pore folk compassioun. 1483 Caxton Cato C iv, I haue grete ruthe and compassion on you. 1590 Marlowe Edw. II, Wks. (Rtldg.) 210/2 Thy heart..Could not but take compassion of my state! 1611 Bible Ex. ii. 6 She had compassion on him. 1647 W. Browne Polex. i. 164, I..besought him not so to have compassion of a daughter whom he had made miserable. 1714 Mandeville Fab. Bees (1725) I. 290 Humanity bids us have compassion with the sufferings of others. 1841 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 104 Have compassion on the mighty whom love hath abased. |
† 3. Sorrowful emotion, sorrow, grief. Obs.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 23945 heading (Fairf.), Compassioun of our lauedi for þe passioun of hir sone. 1488 Caxton Chast. Goddes Chyld. 7 Teres of compascyon, teres of compunccion, teres of loue and of deuocyon. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. iii. 6 Her hart gan melt in great compassion; And drizling teares did shed for pure affection. |
▸ compassion fatigue n. orig. U.S. apathy or indifference towards the suffering of others or to charitable causes acting on their behalf, typically attributed to numbingly frequent appeals for assistance, esp. donations; (hence) a diminishing public response to frequent charitable appeals.
| 1968A. W. Farmer in Minutes Comm. World Service (Lutheran World Federation) 64 You have been hearing and perhaps using, as I have, the phrase ‘*Compassion Fatigue’. We are just tired out with all the repeated appeals to do good. 1987 Listener 29 Oct. 19/2 What the refugee workers call ‘compassion fatigue’ has set in. Back in the 1970s, when the boat people were on the front pages, the world was eager to help. But now the boat people are old news. 1995 S. Nye Best of ‘Men behaving Badly’ (2000) 161/2 Deborah. Anything to help Dorothy? Gary. No, thanks, I'll shoulder the burden of caring for her. Deborah. Oh, well, maybe later, when compassion fatigue sets in. 2000 Big Issue 4 Sept. 25/2 In a culture exhausted by compassion fatigue, shock is now used more cautiously. |
▪ II. comˈpassion, v.
[f. prec., or prob. ad. F. compassionner (15th c. in Littré) to compassionate.]
trans. To have compassion on, to pity. (‘A word scarcely used’, Johnson.)
| 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. iv. i. 124 Can you heare a good man grone And not relent, or not compassion him? 1627 F. E. Hist. Edw. II (1680) 72 Shall I..compassion those that do attempt my ruine? 1761 Hume Hist. Eng. II. xxxii. 222 The people who compassioned his youth, his virtue and his noble birth. 1873 Argosy XVI. 35 Dr. Knox compassioned Janet's hard place. |
Hence comˈpassioning vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1830 Fraser's Mag. I. 226 Both wanted..a kind, compassioning adviser. |