'Compassion' is Latin for 'suffering with' — the same root makes 'patient' mean 'one who suffers.'
Sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.
From Old French 'compassion,' from Late Latin 'compassiōnem' (sympathy, fellow-feeling, suffering alongside), from 'compatī' (to suffer together with), composed of 'com-' (with, together) + 'patī' (to suffer, to endure, to undergo), from PIE *peh₂- (to harm, to hurt, to suffer). Compassion is etymologically 'co-suffering' — to feel pain in company with another. The same Latin root 'patī' produced 'passion' (intense suffering, as in the Passion of Christ), 'patient' (one who endures treatment), 'patience,' and 'passive' (acted upon, not acting). The