# compassion

> English word · Noun · IPA /kəmˈpæʃ.ən/ · frequency rank #7,664

## Definitions
1. Deep awareness of the suffering of others that people have to the point of them being motivated to relieve such states.
2. Deep awareness of the individual experiences of suffering of others or themselves that people have to the point of them being motivated to relieve such experiences, as reflected by the psychological term self-compassion.

## Etymology
From Middle English compassioun, compassion, from Old French compassion, from Ecclesiastical Latin compassio (“sympathy”), from Latin compati, past participle compassus (“to suffer together with”), from com- (“together”) + pati (“to suffer”); see passion.

## Easily confused with
- **compulsion** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/compassion-vs-compulsion)
- **compression** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/compassion-vs-compression)
- **companion** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/companion-vs-compassion)
- **commission** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/commission-vs-compassion)

## Common misspellings (14)
`ccompassion`, `cmopassion`, `comapssion`, `commpassion`, `compasion`, `compasison`, `compassino`, `compassionn`, `compassoin`, `compastion`, `comppassion`, `compsasion`, `copmassion`, `ocmpassion`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/compassion