Lewis & Short

com-mĭsĕror, ātus, 1,

  1. I. v. a. dep., to commiserate, pity, to bewail (class. but rare); aliquem or aliquid: aliquem, Att. ap. Non. p. 445, 11: fortunam Graeciae, Nep. Ages. 5, 2: in commiserandā re, Auct. Her. 4. 55, 69: interitum fratris, Gell. 1, 5, 6.
    1. * B. Transf., of inan. objects: leo gemitus edens et murmura dolorem cruciatumque vulneris commiserantia, making it known by complaints, Gell. 5, 14, 19.
  2. II. In rhetoric, absol., of an orator, to excite compassion (cf. commiseratio): quid cum commiserari, conqueri coeperit, Cic. Div. in Caecil. 14, 46: cum commiserandum sit, * Quint. 11, 3, 58.