condolence

English

Alternative forms

• condoleance, condolance (both obsolete)

Etymology

From condole +‎ -ence, or from Middle French condoléance, or formed from the root of Latin condoleō (“I sympathize”), from con- (“together, with”) and doleō (“I hurt, suffer, have pain”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /kənˈdoʊləns/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (US, plural); “condolences”:

  (file)

• (Philippines) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒndələns/

Noun

condolence (countable and uncountable, plural condolences)

1. (uncountable) Comfort, support or sympathy.

   There was not much to do after the accident but offer what condolence I could.

2. (countable, usually in the plural) An expression of comfort, support, or sympathy offered to the family and friends of somebody who has died.

   I sent her a card expressing my condolences after her mother passed away.

Derived terms

• book of condolence
• condolence card

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *delh₁- (0 c, 11 e)

Translations

comfort, support or sympathy — see also condolences

Armenian: ցավակցություն (hy) (cʻavakcʻutʻyun), կարեկցանք (hy) (karekcʻankʻ) Belarusian: спачува́нне (be) n (spačuvánnje) Bulgarian: съчу́вствие (bg) n (sǎčúvstvie) Chinese: Mandarin: 同情 (zh) (tóngqíng), 愛心 / 爱心 (zh) (àixīn) Czech: soustrast (cs) f Finnish: osanotto (fi), myötätunto (fi), pahoittelu (fi) French: réconfort (fr) m Georgian: თანაგრძნობა (tanagrʒnoba) German: Beileid (de) m, Anteilnahme (de) f Italian: conforto (it) m Japanese: 同情 (ja) (どうじょう, dōjō) Korean: 동정(同情) (ko) (dongjeong) Macedonian: сочувство n (sočuvstvo) Polish: współczucie (pl) n Romanian: compătimire (ro) f, consolare (ro) f Russian: сочу́вствие (ru) n (sočúvstvije), соболе́знование (ru) n (soboléznovanije) Slovak: sústrasť f Ukrainian: співчуття́ n (spivčuttjá)

sympathy when someone has died — see also condolences

Arabic: تَأْسِيَة f (taʔsiya), تَعْزِيَة f (taʕziya) Armenian: ցավակցություն (hy) (cʻavakcʻutʻyun) Belarusian: спачува́нне (be) n (spačuvánnje) Bulgarian: съболе́знования (bg) n pl (sǎboléznovanija) Chinese: Mandarin: 哀悼 (zh) (āidào), 吊慰 (zh) (diàowèi) Czech: kondolence f, soustrast (cs) f Danish: kondolence c Dutch: condoleance (nl) f Estonian: kaastunne, kaastundeavaldus Finnish: osanotto (fi), surunvalittelu (fi) French: condoléances (fr) f pl German: Kondolenz (de) f Hungarian: részvét (hu) Italian: condoglianze (it) Japanese: お悔やみ (ja) (おくやみ, okuyami), 哀悼 (ja) (あいとう, aitō), 弔意 (ja) (ちょうい, chōi) Korean: 애도(哀悼) (ko) (aedo), 조의(弔意) (ko) (joui) Norwegian: Bokmål: kondolanse m Polish: kondolencje (pl) f pl Portuguese: condolência (pt) f, pêsame (pt) m Romanian: condoleanțe (ro) f pl Russian: соболе́знование (ru) n (soboléznovanije), соболе́знования (ru) n pl (soboléznovanija) Slovak: kondolencia f, sústrasť f Spanish: pésame (es) m, péname m, condolencia (es) f Swedish: kondoleans (sv) c Tagalog: hingaba, paghihingaba, pakikiramay Tashelhit: afcad m Turkish: başsağlığı (tr), taziye (tr) Ukrainian: співчуття́ n (spivčuttjá)