Library / English Dictionary

PERSONIFY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: personified   

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Attribute human qualities to something

Example:

The Greeks personated their gods ridiculous

Synonyms:

personate; personify

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "personify" is one way to...):

ascribe; assign; attribute; impute (attribute or credit to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

person (a human being)

person (a human body (usually including the clothing))

personification (the act of attributing human characteristics to abstract ideas etc.)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Represent, as of a character on stage

Example:

Derek Jacobi was Hamlet

Synonyms:

be; embody; personify

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "personify" is one way to...):

represent; stand for; symbolise; symbolize; typify (express indirectly by an image, form, or model; be a symbol)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "personify"):

body; personify (invest with or as with a body; give body to)

exemplify; represent (be characteristic of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

persona ((Jungian psychology) a personal facade that one presents to the world)

persona (an actor's portrayal of someone in a play)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Invest with or as with a body; give body to

Synonyms:

body; personify

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "personify" is one way to...):

be; embody; personify (represent, as of a character on stage)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

person (a human body (usually including the clothing))

personification (representing an abstract quality or idea as a person or creature)

personification (a person who represents an abstract quality)

Credits