PERSONIFY (personified)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: personified   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does personify mean? 

• PERSONIFY (verb)
  The verb PERSONIFY has 3 senses:

1. invest with or as with a body; give body to

2. represent, as of a character on stage

3. attribute human qualities to something

  Familiarity information: PERSONIFY used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PERSONIFY (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they personify    ... he / she / it personifies   
Past simple: personified   
Past participle: personified   
-ing form: personifying   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Invest with or as with a body; give body to

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

body; personify

Hypernyms (to "personify" is one way to...):

be; embody; personify (represent, as of a character on stage)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

person (a human body (usually including the clothing))

personification (representing an abstract quality or idea as a person or creature)

personification (a person who represents an abstract quality)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Represent, as of a character on stage

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

be; embody; personify

Context example:

Derek Jacobi was Hamlet

Hypernyms (to "personify" is one way to...):

represent; stand for; symbolise; symbolize; typify (express indirectly by an image, form, or model; be a symbol)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "personify"):

body; personify (invest with or as with a body; give body to)

exemplify; represent (be characteristic of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

persona ((Jungian psychology) a personal facade that one presents to the world)

persona (an actor's portrayal of someone in a play)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Attribute human qualities to something

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

personate; personify

Context example:

The Greeks personated their gods ridiculous

Hypernyms (to "personify" is one way to...):

ascribe; assign; attribute; impute (attribute or credit to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

person (a human being)

person (a human body (usually including the clothing))

personification (the act of attributing human characteristics to abstract ideas etc.)

 Context examples 

In an immediate way it personified his life.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

“She might almost personify Britannia,” said he, “with her complete self-absorption and general air of comfortable somnolence. Well, au revoir, Von Bork!”

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)