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personify

personify [per-son-uh-fahy] SynonymsExamplesWord Origin verb (used with object), per·son·i·fied, per·son·i·fy·ing.

to attribute human nature or character to (an inanimate object or an abstraction), as in speech or writing.
to represent (a thing or abstraction) in the form of a person, as in art.
to embody (a quality, idea, etc.) in a real person or a concrete thing.
to be an embodiment or incarnation of; typify: He personifies the ruthless ambition of some executives.
to personate.

Origin of personify 1720–30; person + -ify; compare French personnifier, Italian personificare Related formsper·son·i·fi·a·ble, adjectiveper·son·i·fi·ant, adjectiveper·son·i·fi·er, nounun·per·son·i·fied, adjectiveun·per·son·i·fy·ing, adjectiveSynonyms for personify 4. represent, exemplify, incorporate. Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019 Related Words for personifying exemplify, incarnate, manifest, typify, epitomize, embody, symbolize, illustrate, materialize, copy, exteriorize, imitate, substantiate, image, express, externalize, humanize, impersonate, mirror, objectify Examples from the Web for personifying Historical Examples of personifying

No doubt this represents a man transformed into, or personifying, a snake.

Human Animals

Frank Hamel

When men had come to perceive that it was a force, they had passed the personifying stage.

The Hearts of Men

H. Fielding

Artists and poets have had a fashion of personifying them as allegorical figures.

Sir Joshua Reynolds

Estelle M. Hurll

Whatever the hidden ground of policy may be, their thought still clothes itself in personifying language.

The Common Law

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

The continuity of person is preserved by this fiction, as in Rome it was by personifying the inheritance ad interim.

The Common Law

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

British Dictionary definitions for personifying personify verb -fies, -fying or -fied (tr)

to attribute human characteristics to (a thing or abstraction)
to represent (an abstract quality) in human or animal form
(of a person or thing) to represent (an abstract quality), as in art or literature
to be the embodiment of

Derived Formspersonifiable, adjectivepersonifier, noun Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 Word Origin and History for personifying personify v.

1727 “to attribute personal form to things or abstractions” (especially as an artistic or literary technique), from person + -fy or from French personnifier (17c.), from personne. Meaning “to represent, embody” attested from 1806. Related: Personified; personifying.