Empathy's the capability to share your feelings and understand another's emotion and feelings. It's often characterized as the ability to "put oneself into another's shoes," Empathy doesn't necessarily imply compassion, sympathy, or empathic concern because this capacity can be present in context of compassionate or cruel behavior. Etymology The English word's derived from the Greek word ἐμπάθεια (empatheia), "physical affection, passion, partiality" wh… (More on Empathy)