Apatheia

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A condition characterized by an absence of emotional agitation or disturbance, often implying calmness and detachment
2. The state in which one remains unaffected by emotions or passions, showing inner tranquility
3. A mental state of serene indifference to emotional or physical sensations, free from disturbance

Etymology: Ancient Greek "apatheia" was built from "a-", meaning "without," and "pathos," meaning "suffering," "feeling," or "experience." Its literal sense was therefore freedom from passion or suffering, and in the philosophical schools of late antiquity, particularly Stoicism, it named an ideal of the mind so steady that outside events could not disturb it. English took the word directly from Greek and it survives today as a doublet of "apathy." The two words come from the same source but reached English by different routes: "apatheia" arrived as a learned borrowing that kept the Greek ideal of serene detachment, while "apathy" developed a sense closer to indifference or lack of feeling. The English word "apathy" is the same root, so the two share a history even as their meanings drifted apart.