commiserate meaning (obsolete): definition

commiserate

adj

UK /kəˈmɪzəɹət/

Etymology From commiserātus, the perfect passive participle of commiseror.

Obsolete, Rare Commiserating, pitying, lamentful.

In the time of Gregory Nazianzene, if we may credit ecclesiastical records, there sprung up the direfulest mortality in Rome that mankind hath been acquainted with; scarce able were the living to bury the dead, and not so much but their streets were digged up for graves, which this holy Father (with no little commiserate heart-bleeding) beholding, commanded all the clergy (for he was at that time their chief bishop) to assemble in prayer and supplications, and deal forcingly beseeching with God, to intermit his fury and forgive them.1593: Thomas Nashe, Christ’s Teares over Jerusalem, page 157 (1815 edited republication)

verb

UK /kəˈmɪzəɹeɪt/

Etymology From the above adjective, see at -ate for more.

To feel or express compassion or sympathy for (someone or something).

A few individuals who commiserated the unhappy condition of British negro slaves.
Lord Meersbrook had remarked the same woman a day or two before, peering into the area, as if looking for some of the servants, yet neither venturing to ring nor knock; he concluded she was there for no good, but the self-commiserating tone in which she spoke, together with her Irish accent, now caught his ear;...1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXXVI, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 160:

To sympathize; condole.

As the phrasal verb commiserate with

Ambitransitive To offer condolences jointly with; express sympathy with.

Derived terms: commiserating, commiseratingly, commiseration, commiserative, commiserator, dot-commiserate, uncommiserated, uncommiserating
Related terms: immiserate, immiseration, misery