“Sonder” is a fairly new addition to the pages of the dictionary. It was first introduced as part of “The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows” by John Koenig, a collection of words he coined to describe feelings and emotional states for which no word existed. It was presented online in 2009, then codified in the printed book in 2021. “Sonder,” encompassing the feeling of realizing that other people have lives as rich as one’s own, became popular online in memes and on social media, and the made-up word has now been added to Merriam-Webster. The neologism was likely created from the French “sonder,” meaning “to measure the depth of,” and the German “sondern,” meaning “to separate.”