INCARNATION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does Incarnation mean? 

• INCARNATION (noun)
  The noun INCARNATION has 4 senses:

1. a new personification of a familiar idea

2. (Christianity) the Christian doctrine of the union of God and man in the person of Jesus Christ

3. time passed in a particular bodily form

4. the act of attributing human characteristics to abstract ideas etc.

  Familiarity information: INCARNATION used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INCARNATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A new personification of a familiar idea

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

avatar; embodiment; incarnation

Context example:

the very avatar of cunning

Hypernyms ("incarnation" is a kind of...):

personification (a person who represents an abstract quality)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "incarnation"):

deification (an embodiment of the qualities of a god)

reincarnation (embodiment in a new form (especially the reappearance or a person in another form))

Derivation:

incarnate (make concrete and real)

incarnate (represent in bodily form)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(Christianity) the Christian doctrine of the union of God and man in the person of Jesus Christ

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("Incarnation" is a kind of...):

church doctrine; creed; gospel; religious doctrine (the written body of teachings of a religious group that are generally accepted by that group)

Domain category:

Christian religion; Christianity (a monotheistic system of beliefs and practices based on the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus as embodied in the New Testament and emphasizing the role of Jesus as savior)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Time passed in a particular bodily form

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Context example:

he believes that his life will be better in his next incarnation

Hypernyms ("incarnation" is a kind of...):

time (an indefinite period (usually marked by specific attributes or activities))

Sense 4

Meaning:

The act of attributing human characteristics to abstract ideas etc.

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

incarnation; personification

Hypernyms ("incarnation" is a kind of...):

embodiment (giving concrete form to an abstract concept)

 Context examples 

All my old-time marvel at life returned to me at sight of this splendid incarnation of it, and Wolf Larsen’s cold explanation of life and its meaning was truly ridiculous and laughable.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

But no matter how Spitz circled, Joe whirled around on his heels to face him, mane bristling, ears laid back, lips writhing and snarling, jaws clipping together as fast as he could snap, and eyes diabolically gleaming—the incarnation of belligerent fear.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

And while the whole face was the incarnation of fierceness and strength, the primal melancholy from which he suffered seemed to greaten the lines of mouth and eye and brow, seemed to give a largeness and completeness which otherwise the face would have lacked.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

At his lips' touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)