Pathy
/ˈpæθi/noun
A combining form used in words for a feeling, disease, or a system of treatment or influence.
Did you know?English -pathy comes through New Latin from Greek -patheia / -pathēs, built on pathos, meaning “experience, feeling, suffering,” which is why it powers words about both emotion and disease.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
πάθος (pathos)
“experience, feeling, suffering”
Ancient Greek
Greek
-παθεία (-patheia)
“a state or condition of feeling or suffering”
Late Latin / New Latin
Latin
-pathia
“a learned suffix used in scientific and medical terms”
19th Century
English
-pathy
“a suffix in words naming feelings, diseases, or modes of influence”
Modern English
English
-pathy
“a combining form in nouns such as empathy, telepathy, and neuropathy”