Condolences

How to spell condolences

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce condolences

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does condolences mean?

1. nounExpressions of sympathy and sorrow offered to someone who has suffered a loss, especially a death.

Condolences in a sentence

• The manager sent his condolences to the family of the late employee.

• Hundreds of mourners offered their condolences at the funeral.

Where does condolences come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb condolere, meaning 'to suffer together with someone', formed from con- 'with' and dolere 'to feel pain or grieve'. The same dolere root gives English the words 'dolour' and 'doleful', both tied to sorrow, which is a useful reminder that the middle of the word is spelled with 'dol', not 'dole'. The noun 'condolence' entered English in the late 1500s, originally meaning shared sorrow or grief felt alongside another person. Over time it settled into its modern, more formal sense of an expression of sympathy offered to someone who has been bereaved. Today it is most often used in the plural, as in 'my condolences', when offering comfort after a death. The tricky part for writers is the unstressed middle syllable and the soft 'c' that sounds like 's', which together hide the true spelling.

How the word is built

• con- (with, together)
• dol (grief, pain, from Latin dolere 'to suffer')
• -ence (noun-forming suffix)
• -s (plural)