Here are some specific, science-based activities for cultivating empathy from our new site Greater Good in Action 1  : Active listening: Express active interest in what the other person has to say and make him or her feel heard.
http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/empathy/definition
Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within the other person's frame of reference, i.e., the capacity to place oneself in another's position.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empathy
Empathy has been associated with two different pathways in the brain, and scientists have speculated that some aspects of empathy can be traced to mirror neurons, cells in the brain that fire when we observe someone else perform an action in much the same way that they would fire if we performed that action ourselves.
http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/empathy/definition
Unlike sympathy, empathy has come to be used in a more broad way than it was when it was first introduced into the lexicon; the term is now most often used to refer to the capacity or ability to imagine oneself in the situation of another, thereby vicariously experiencing the emotions, ideas, or opinions of that person.
http://blog.dictionary.com/empathy-vs-sympathy/
The terms and empathy and sympathy are often confused, and with good reason. Both of the words deal with the relationship one has to the feelings and experiences of another. Today we explore the differences between these terms and how they are most commonly used.
http://blog.dictionary.com/empathy-vs-sympathy/
Having empathy doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll want to help someone in need, though it’s often a vital first step toward compassionate action. For more: Read Frans de Waal’s essay on “ The Evolution of Empathy ” and Daniel Goleman’s overview of different forms of empathy, drawing on the work of Paul Ekman.
http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/empathy/definition
1 Empathy is good for health care: A large-scale study found that doctors high in empathy have patients who enjoy better health; other research suggests training doctors to be more empathic improves patient satisfaction and the doctors’ own emotional well-being.
http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/empathy/definition
Sympathy is the older of the two terms. It entered English in the mid-1500s with a very broad meaning of “agreement or harmony in qualities between things or people.” Since then, the term has come to be used in a more specific way.
http://blog.dictionary.com/empathy-vs-sympathy/
Empathy is a building block of morality—for people to follow the Golden Rule, it helps if they can put themselves in someone else’s shoes. It is also a key ingredient of successful relationships because it helps us understand the perspectives, needs, and intentions of others.
http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/empathy/definition
Both sympathy and empathy have roots in the Greek term pathos páthos “meaning, suffering.” Feeling the prefix-sym comes from The greek sýn “meaning, with together” with and the prefix-em derives from The greek-en “meaning, within.”. In sympathy is the older of the two. terms
http://blog.dictionary.com/empathy-vs-sympathy/
what is the definition of sympathy
 The definition of sympathy is a Agreement or harmony in qualities between things or people. Sympathy is defined as an agreement or harmony in qualities between things or people.