personify
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Etymology
From French personnifier; equivalent to person + -ify or persona + -ify.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pə(ɹ)ˈsɒnɪfaɪ/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Verb
personify (third-person singular simple present personifies, present participle personifying, simple past and past participle personified)
- (transitive) To be an example of; to have all the attributes of.
- Antonym: unpersonify
- Mozart could be said to personify musical genius.
- (transitive) To create a representation of (an abstract quality) in the form of a character or persona.
- Antonym: unpersonify
- The writer personified death in the form of the Grim Reaper.
- 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VII, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 73:
- If ever any of the girls had taken a fancy to personify their good genius, they would certainly have given to his image all they remembered of "Uncle Frank."
Related terms
Translations
to be an example of
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to create a representation in the form of a character
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