1.
compassion; sympathy; pity for others' suffering
A feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for the suffering or misfortune of others. A classical term often associated with Confucian philosophy.
Common expressions
Etymology
- From Mencius (孟子), who named 惻隠の心, the inability to bear the suffering of others, as the first of the four innate beginnings of human goodness.
Similar words
惻隠 is literary and appears in moral and philosophical writing, often about the powerful showing mercy to the defeated.