Sympatries

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Emotional connections or responses that arise from shared experiences or feelings
2. mutual understanding between individuals or groups that enhances compassion
3. the behavioral tendencies that involve compassion and emotional responsiveness towards others' feelings

Etymology: "Sympatries" is the plural of "sympatry," and the word's meaning has drifted far from its roots. Its Greek ingredients are "sún," meaning "with" or "together," and "patrís," meaning "fatherland," so the literal sense is something like "shared homeland." Biologists used the term for species or populations whose ranges overlap in the same geographic area, the opposite of allopatry, where ranges are separate. Ecology, not emotion, is the word's original territory. The sense of shared emotional understanding is a later extension, and it runs against the grain of the parts. A word built around a common fatherland has been pressed into describing people who feel alike, as if sharing a place of origin were the same as sharing a feeling. The plural form simply counts multiple such overlaps or instances.

Synonyms: affinities, connections, kinships, relationships, bonds

Antonyms: antipathies, disconnections