personify
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From French personnifier; equivalent to person + -ify or persona + -ify.
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
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[edit]
Translations[edit]
to be an example of
|
to create a representation in the form of a character
|