English → Latin
“sympathy” in Latin
hūmānitāshumaneness, humane conduct, philanthropy, benevolence, kindliness; courtesy, politeness, good manners, social grace; refmisericordiapity, compassion, mercy, lovingkindness, tenderness, heartedness; wretchedness, misery; pathos
The English word sympathy itself goes back to Latin sympathīa.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
sympathy
Natural harmony or agreement, naturae quasi consensus, quam συμπάθειαν Graeci vocant (Cic., N.D., 3, 11): concordia rerum, quam συμπάθειαν appellavere Graeci (Plin., 37, 4, 15): also simply concordia rerum (Sen., Ben., 6, 22: sympathea, Vitr.).
Fellow-feeling with another (in joy and sorrow), humanitas (Nep., Dion., 1, 4); (in grief or distress), misericordia: doloris sui coram declaratio (after Sulpic., in Cic., Ep., 4, 5): a letter of sympathy, litterae consolatoriae: to feel sympathy, aeque dolere (Cic., ad Fam., 4, 6, in.).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for sympathy?
- The usual Latin words for “sympathy” are hūmānitās, misericordia. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.