MONDAY Sympathy/Empathy/Antipathy/Apathy (noun)
One meaning of the root word PATH is “feeling.” The prefix SYM means “with” or “together.” In English, we use the word sympathy to describe an experience of “feeling together with” another person, especially someone experiencing sadness or misfortune. The prefix “EM” means “in” and when added to PATH, gives us empathy, which is an ability to share someone else’s feelings vicariously. Both sympathy and empathy refer to a sensitivity to the emotional experience of another. While some people insist on a distinction between these two words, many people use them more or less interchangeably.
The prefix “anti” means “against,” so antipathy means “hostility” or “opposition.” And finally, the prefix “a” means “without,” so apathy means “without feeling.” An apathetic person is indifferent, incurious, essentially numbed to life.
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