English

Noun

pitier ‎(plural pitiers)

1. One who pities.
   • 1653, John Gauden, Hieraspistes: Or a Defense by way of Apology for the Ministry and Ministers of the Church:

     The high Esteemers, the hearty Lovers, the liberal Relievers, the unfeigned Pitiers, the faithful Advocates, and the earnest Intercessors, for the distressed Ministers; the so much despighted and (by many) despised Ministry of this Church.

   • 1867, Authorized report of the papers, prepared addresses, and discussions of the Church Congress held at Wolverhampton on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, October 1st, 2d, 3d, & 4th, 1867, page 248:

     Pity implies the assertion of superiority in the pitier; and it is a gratification of a man's pride to go about pitying those who are perhaps a great deal better than himself.

   • 2011, Dana LaCourse Munteanu, Tragic Pathos: Pity and Fear in Greek Philosophy and Tragedy:

     The unsettling potential of pity to “entrap” the pitier, as exposed in these Euripidean plays, has fascinating political implications. In all instances, a possible unresolved conflict exists between the pitier and the pitied.