personify

tr.v., -fied, -fy·ing, -fies.

1. To think of or represent (an inanimate object or abstraction) as having personality or the qualities, thoughts, or movements of a living being: “To make history or psychology alive I personify it” (Anaïs Nin).
2. To represent (an object or abstraction) by a human figure.
3. To represent (an abstract quality or idea): This character personifies evil.
4. To be the embodiment or perfect example of: “Stalin now personified bolshevism in the eyes of the world” (A.J.P. Taylor).

[French personnifier, from personne, person, from Old French persone. See person.]

personifier per·son'i·fi'er n.

verb

To represent (an abstraction, for example) in or as if in bodily form: body forth, embody, exteriorize, externalize, incarnate, manifest, materialize, objectify, personalize, substantiate. See substitute.

IN BRIEF: To think of or show some idea or thing as a human.

Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Fin personify the spirit of boyhood.

Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The verb has 3 meanings:

Meaning #1: invest with or as with a body; give body to
  Synonym: body

Meaning #2: represent, as of a character on stage
  Synonyms: embody, be

Meaning #3: attribute human qualities to something
  Synonym: personate

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Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - personificere, levendegøre

Nederlands (Dutch)
verpersoonlijken, belichaming van iets zijn, persoonlijke eigenschappen toeschrijven aan

Français (French)
v. tr. - incarner, (Littérat) personnifier

Deutsch (German)
v. - verkörpern, personifizieren

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - προσωποποιώ, ενσαρκώνω, είμαι η προσωποποίηση

Italiano (Italian)
rappresentare, personificare

Português (Portuguese)
v. - personificar, imitar

Русский (Russian)
персонифицировать, символизировать, воплощать

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - representar, personificar

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - personifiera, förkroppsliga

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
赋与...以人性, 使人格化

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 賦與...以人性, 使人格化

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - 의인하다, 구체화하다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 擬人化する, 具現する, 化身になる

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يشخص, يمثل, يجسد‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮האניש, אינש, גילם, ייחס תכונות-אנוש, היווה סמל‬

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