Empathic

/ɛmˈpæθɪk/ adjective

Definition

Relating to or showing empathy; able to understand and share another person's feelings.

Etymology

From empathy + -ic suffix. 'Empathy' derives from German 'Einfühlung' (feeling into), created in 1873. The -ic suffix attaches to nouns to create adjectives.

Kelly Says

There's a subtle difference between 'empathic' and 'empathetic'—both are correct, but 'empathetic' is more common in modern speech, and linguists still debate whether they have different shades of meaning or are simply competing variants.

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