personify

English

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

personification

Translations

to be an example of

Bulgarian: олицетворявам (bg) (olicetvorjavam)
Catalan: personificar (ca)
Finnish: henkilöidä (fi)
French: personnifier (fr)
Galician: personificar
German: personifizieren (de)
Hungarian: megtestesít (hu)
Italian: personificare
Norwegian: personifisere
Russian: персонифици́ровать (ru) impf or pf (personificírovatʹ)
Serbo-Croatian: personificirati (sh)
Spanish: personificar (es)
Swedish: personifiera (sv)

to create a representation in the form of a character

Bulgarian: въплъщавам (bg) (vǎplǎštavam)
Catalan: personificar (ca)
Finnish: henkilöidä (fi)
French: personnifier (fr)
Galician: personificar
German: personifizieren (de)
Greek: προσωποποιώ (el) (prosopopoió)
Hungarian: megszemélyesít (hu)
Polish: animizować impf
Russian: олицетворя́ть (ru) impf (olicetvorjátʹ), воплоща́ть (ru) impf (voploščátʹ)
Serbo-Croatian: upriličiti (sh), personificirati (sh)
Spanish: personificar (es)
Welsh: personoli