noun: the ability to understand how someone feels because you can imagine what it is like to be them
noun: understanding and entering into another's feelings
"Here we view empathy as a multidimensional construct to account for the sense of sharing and understanding the subjective experience of others. Thus empathy includes aspects of emotion communication, self-awareness and theory of mind." The empathic brain and its dysfunction in psychiatric populations: implications for intervention across different clinical conditions
The two terms (sympathy/empathy) are very close in concept. The term 'sympathy' is/was used in science/physics to describe a specific physical state or condition. This being the case it (sympathy) has its very certain place in SVP. Empathy seems to be used mostly in describing an emotional state or condition. As always words, terms and phrases are subject to whatever context in which they are used.
See Also
Knowing
Love
Mind to Mind
Sympathetic
Sympathy
Understanding