Mind & EmotionGreek → English
Psychopath
/ˈsaɪkəpæθ/noun
A person with a personality disorder marked by shallow emotion, no remorse and manipulative behaviour.
The Greek roots
ψυχή
psychḗ
soul, mind, breath
πάθος
páthos
suffering, feeling
Literally: “soul-suffering”
The story of the word
The word came into English around 1885 from German psychiatry, where psychopathisch covered mental illness of any kind. A psychopath was simply someone whose mind was ill. The narrowing to the cold, charming, guiltless type happened in the twentieth century, largely through Hervey Cleckley's clinical portrait of 1941, and popular use has since drifted further than any clinician intended.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → German → English
- First recorded
- 1885
Same family
psychepsychiatrypathologysympathy
In a sentence
Calling your landlord a psychopath is not a diagnosis.