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]

  • (UK, adjective) IPA(key): /kəmˈpæʃənət/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • (UK, verb) IPA(key): /kəmˈpæʃəneɪt/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)

Adjective[edit]

compassionate (comparative more compassionate, superlative most compassionate)

  1. 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[1], London: Samuel Macham:
      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.
    • 1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, chapter 49, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 502:
      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, chapter 7, in The Reluctant Fundamentalist‎[3], Orlando: Harcourt, page 99:
      […] 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.
  2. Given to someone as an exception because of a family emergency or a death in their family.
    compassionate leave; a compassionate visa
  3. (obsolete) Inviting or asking for pity.
    Synonym: pitiable

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

compassionate (third-person singular simple present compassionates, present participle compassionating, simple past and past participle compassionated)

  1. (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, G. Bishop et al., chapter 6, in Thomas Lodge, transl., The Famous and Memorable Workes of Josephus‎[4], London, page 733:
      […] seeing them die so wofully in the flames, he compassionated them.
    • 1749, Henry Fielding, chapter 6, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book 2, page 83:
      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, chapter 1, in Things as They Are; or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams‎[5], volume 2, London: B. Crosby, page 4:
      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 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter III, in Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 38:
      “ […] if she were a nice, pretty child, one might compassionate her forlornness; but one really cannot care for such a little toad as that.”
    • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 16, in The History of Pendennis. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
      Helen laughed at these sentimental remarks, and wondered that Madame herself did not compassionate her lodger, and console him
    • 1855, Frederick Douglass, chapter 17, in My Bondage and My Freedom. […], New York, Auburn, N.Y.: Miller, Orton & Mulligan […], →OCLC, part I (Life as a Slave), page 236:
      I explained the circumstances of the past two days, which had driven me to the woods, and he deeply compassionated my distress.

Translations[edit]

Italian[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Verb[edit]

compassionate

  1. inflection of compassionare:
    1. second-person plural present indicative
    2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2[edit]

Participle[edit]

compassionate f pl

  1. feminine plural of compassionato
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