Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Pathos \Pa"thos\, n.
   1. The quality or character of those emotions, traits, or
      experiences which are personal, and therefore restricted
      and evanescent; transitory and idiosyncratic dispositions
      or feelings as distinguished from those which are
      universal and deep-seated in character; -- opposed to
      {ethos}.

   2. Suffering; the enduring of active stress or affliction.

Pathos \Pa"thos\, n. [L., from Gr. pa`qos a suffering, passion,
   fr. ?, ?, to suffer; cf. ? toil, L. pati to suffer, E.
   patient.]
   That quality or property of anything which touches the
   feelings or excites emotions and passions, esp., that which
   awakens tender emotions, such as pity, sorrow, and the like;
   contagious warmth of feeling, action, or expression; pathetic
   quality; as, the pathos of a picture, of a poem, or of a cry.

         The combination of incident, and the pathos of
         catastrophe.                             --T. Warton.

Source : WordNet®

pathos
     n 1: a quality that arouses emotions (especially pity or sorrow);
          "the film captured all the pathos of their situation"
          [syn: {poignancy}]
     2: a feeling of sympathy and sorrow for the misfortunes of
        others; "the blind are too often objects of pity" [syn: {commiseration},
         {pity}, {ruth}]
     3: a style that has the power to evoke feelings