pity

v. have mercy on, feel compassion for, commiserate with, sympathize with

n. mercy, compassion; sympathy, commiseration

Pity, as in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, implies tender or sometimes slightly contemptuous sorrow for one in misery or distress as in "The media treat victims with condescending pity". By the nineteenth century, two different kinds of pity had come to be distinguished, which we might call "benevolent pity" and "contemptuous pity" (see Kimball). David Hume observed that pity which has in it a strong mixture of good-will, is nearly allied to contempt, which is a species of dislike, with a mixture of pride.
See more at Wikipedia.org...

(v. t.)
To move to pity; -- used impersonally.
  

(v. t.)
To feel pity or compassion for; to have sympathy with; to compassionate; to commiserate; to have tender feelings toward (any one), awakened by a knowledge of suffering.
  

(v. i.)
To be compassionate; to show pity.
  

(n.)
Piety.
  

(n.)
A reason or cause of pity, grief, or regret; a thing to be regretted.
  

(n.)
A feeling for the sufferings or distresses of another or others; sympathy with the grief or misery of another; compassion; fellow-feeling; commiseration.
  

Noun
1. a feeling of sympathy and sorrow for the misfortunes of others; "the blind are too often objects of pity"
(synonym) commiseration, ruth, pathos
(hypernym) sympathy, fellow feeling
(derivation) feel for, compassionate, condole with, sympathize with
2. an unfortunate development; "it's a pity he couldn't do it"
(synonym) shame
(hypernym) misfortune, bad luck
3. the humane quality of understanding the suffering of others and wanting to do something about it
(synonym) compassion
(hypernym) mercifulness, mercy
(derivation) feel for, compassionate, condole with, sympathize with
Verb
1. share the suffering of
(synonym) feel for, compassionate, condole with, sympathize with
(hypernym) grieve, sorrow
(hyponym) commiserate, sympathize, sympathise
(derivation) compassion

jie1 lai2 zhi1 shi2
Food handed out in contempt.
A meal offered from pity mixed with contempt. Better die a beggar than live a beggar.