...the word comes from the Greek noun pathos, a word arising from the verb paschein with an aorist infinitive pathein. This verb means to suffer, to endure, to receive an impression from without, to be the passive object of another's action.

An interesting article that deals with the introduction of a word into the English Language (memegenesis, if you will or lexical innovations as he puts it): ETHOPATHY - A Word Whose Time Has Come. It goes into great depths about the etymology (word origins) of the root path-. As Joseph Salemi points out, Pathos also means affliction or disease. It's really a great article. I thought it was hilarious.

Note to self: share fielding on "allism," a culture of cognitive difference with connections to autistic communities. challenges standard definitions of "empathy."