sympathy

 
Pronunciation: /ˈsɪmpəθi/

noun (plural sympathies)

[mass noun]
  • 1feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else’s misfortune: they had great sympathy for the flood victims
  • (one's sympathies) formal expression of such feelings; condolences: all Tony’s friends joined in sending their sympathies to his widow Jean
  • 2understanding between people; common feeling: the special sympathy between the two boys was obvious to all
  • (sympathies) support in the form of shared feelings or opinions: his sympathies lay with his constituents
  • agreement with or approval of an opinion or aim; a favourable attitude: I have some sympathy for this view
  • (in sympathy) relating harmoniously to something else; in keeping: repairs had to be in sympathy with the original structure
  • 3the state or fact of responding in a way similar or corresponding to an action elsewhere: the magnetic field oscillates in sympathy

Origin:

late 16th century (in sympathy (sense 3)): via Latin from Greek sumpatheia, from sumpathēs, from sun- 'with' + pathos 'feeling'

On the difference between sympathy and empathy, see empathy (usage).