Sonder

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A profound awareness of the complexity of other people's lives, realizing that everyone has their own rich narratives and experiences
2. An understanding that every individual has a unique story, filled with hopes, dreams, and struggles, often hidden from view
3. The recognition that each passerby has a life as vivid and intricate as one’s own, highlighting the depth of human experience and connection

Etymology: John Koenig, an American author and neologist, coined "sonder" in 2012 for his project The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, which sets out to name emotions that English has no word for. He first posted the entry on his Tumblr and Facebook pages in mid-2012, and it was later included in his 2021 book of the same title, where it appears on page 123. Koenig built the word from two foreign sources that share no meaning with it. The first is German "sonder-", meaning "special," which is familiar from words like "sonderbar," meaning "strange" or "peculiar." The second is French "sonder," meaning "to probe" or "to sound," as in sounding the depth of water. Neither root refers to awareness of other people, so the word is a deliberate invention built from fragments of other languages.

Synonyms: empathy, understanding, compassion