Pity

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle)
• HYPHEN: pit=y

CIDE DICTIONARY

Pity, n. [OE. pite, OF. pité, pitié, F. pitié, L. pietas piety, kindness, pity. See Pious, and cf. Piety.].

•  Piety.  Wyclif.  [1913 Webster]
•  A feeling for the sufferings or distresses of another or others; sympathy with the grief or misery of another; compassion; fellow-feeling; commiseration.  [1913 Webster]

  "He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord."  [1913 Webster]

  "He . . . has no more pity in him than a dog."  [1913 Webster]
•  A reason or cause of pity, grief, or regret; a thing to be regretted.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

  " In this sense, sometimes used in the plural, especially in the colloquialism: “It is a thousand pities.”"  [1913 Webster]

  "What pity is it
  That we can die but once to serve our country!"  [1913 Webster]

Syn. -- Compassion; mercy; commiseration; condolence; sympathy, fellow-suffering; fellow-feeling. -- Pity, Sympathy, Compassion. Sympathy is literally fellow-feeling, and therefore requiers a certain

Pity, v. t. 

•  To feel pity or compassion for; to have sympathy with; to compassionate; to commiserate; to have tender feelings toward (any one), awakened by a knowledge of suffering.  [1913 Webster]

  "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him."  [1913 Webster]
•  To move to pity; -- used impersonally.  [1913 Webster]

  "It pitieth them to see her in the dust."  [1913 Webster]

Pity, v. i. 

 To be compassionate; to show pity.  [1913 Webster]
"I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Pity, n. & v.
--n. (pl. -ies)
1 sorrow and compassion aroused by another's condition (felt pity for the child).
2 something to be regretted; grounds for regret (what a pity!; the pity of it is that he didn't mean it).
--v.tr. (-ies, -ied) feel (often contemptuous) pity for (they are to be pitied; I pity you if you think that).

Idiom

for pity's sake an exclamation of urgent supplication, anger, etc. more's the pity so much the worse. take pity on feel or act compassionately towards.

Derivative

pitying adj. pityingly adv.

Etymology

ME f. OF pit{eacute} f. L pietas (as PIETY)

DEVIL DICTIONARY

Pity

n. A failing sense of exemption, inspired by contrast.

THESAURUS

Pity

abomination, acceptance, ache, atrocity, be sorry for, bleed, bleed for, chanty, clemency, clementness, commiserate, commiseration, compassion, compassionate, condole with, condolence, crime, dejection, desecration, disgrace, distress, easiness, easygoingness, feel, feel for, feel sorrow for, feel sorry for, forbearance, forbearing, gentleness, humaneness, humanity, ignominy, infamy, lament for, laxness, lenience, leniency, lenientness, lenity, melancholy, mercifulness, mercy, mildness, misfortune, moderateness, patience, profanation, rue, ruth, sacrilege, sadness, scandal, shame, sin, softness, sorrow, sympathize, sympathize with, sympathy, tenderness, terrible thing, tolerance, violation, weep for

ROGET THESAURUS

Pity

Pity

N pity, compassion, commiseration, bowels, of compassion, sympathy, fellow-feeling, tenderness, yearning, forbearance, humanity, mercy, clemency, leniency, charity, ruth, long- suffering, melting mood, argumentum ad misericordiam, quarter, grace, locus paenitentiae, sympathizer, advocate, friend, partisan, patron, wellwisher, pitying, pitiful, compassionate, sympathetic, touched, merciful, clement, ruthful, humane, humanitarian, tender, tender hearted, tender as a chicken, soft, soft hearted, unhardened, lenient, exorable, forbearing, melting, weak, Int, for pity's sake!, mercy!, have mercy!, cry you mercy!, God help you!, poor thing!, poor dear!, poor fellow!, woe betide!, quis talia fando temperet a lachrymiss!, one's heart bleeding for, haud ignara mali miseris succurrere disco, a fellow feeling makes one wondrous kind, onor di bocca assai giova e poco costa.

VB pity, have pity, show pity, take pity, commiserate, compassionate, condole, sympathize, feel for, be sorry for, yearn for, weep, melt, thaw, enter into the feelings of, forbear, relent, relax, give quarter, wipe the tears, parcere subjectis, give a coup de gr=ace, put out of one's misery, raise pity, excite pity, touch, soften, melt, melt the heart, propitiate, disarm, ask for mercy, supplicate, cry for quarter, beg one's life, kneel, deprecate.