Personify
[pə'sɒnɪfaɪ] or [pɚ'sɑnɪfaɪ]
Definition
(verb.) attribute human qualities to something; 'The Greeks personated their gods ridiculous'.
Editor: Vito--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To regard, treat, or represent as a person; to represent as a rational being.
(v. t.) To be the embodiment or personification of; to impersonate; as, he personifies the law.
Checker: Rene
Definition
v.t. (rhet.) to treat look on or describe as a person: to ascribe to any inanimate object the qualities of a person: to be the embodiment of:—pa.t. and pa.p. person′ifīed.—n. Personificā′tion.
Checked by Harriet
Examples
- Now that we know the nature of justice and injustice, let us make an image of the soul, which will personify his words. Plato. The Republic.
- D?dalus (= cunning artificer) was a sort of personified summary of mechanical skill. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Because rationality itself is a wilful exercise one hears Hymns to Reason and sees it personified as an extremely dignified goddess. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- In our modern languages they are named after the sun, the moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn, which from the remotest times were personified and worshiped. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- But if that will is so weak and timid that a great evil like child labor persists to our shame we turn the responsibility over to the devil personified as a special interest. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
Edited by Leah