A somewhat literary or formal word for deep sympathy or pity toward someone's suffering. Often used in written or elevated contexts.
He felt deep compassion for the poor.
The story evokes the reader's pity.
憐憫 is a literary, more intense word for pity used mainly in writing, while 同情 is the everyday, more common term.
憐憫 is a literary, formal word for pity or compassion, similar in register to 慈悲 but without its religious connotation.
self-pity
Standard kanji spelling.
Variant kanji form; 憫 is more common.
From Middle Chinese 憐憫 (len min). The kanji 憐 means 'pity' or 'sympathy', and 憫 means 'compassion' or 'grief'. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the compound has been used in literary Japanese for centuries.