Anthropomorphises

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of attributing human characteristics or emotions to non-human entities or animals is a process that influences storytelling and interpretation
2. This involves the representation of beings, objects, or concepts as if they possess human traits or feelings, impacting both literature and cultural perceptions
3. The practice entails ascribing human qualities, motives, or emotions to non-human forms or abstract ideas, thereby enriching narratives and human experiences

Etymology: "Anthropomorphises" is the third-person singular form of "anthropomorphise," so the root word is the verb "to anthropomorphise," meaning to give human form, character or feelings to something that is not human. The verb is built from three parts: "anthropo-," from the Greek "anthrōpos" meaning "human being," "morph," from the Greek "morphē" meaning "form" or "shape," and the English suffix "-ise," which turns the combined stem into a verb. Put together, the parts literally describe giving human shape to something. The ancient Greeks had a version of the idea long before the English verb existed, since they often depicted gods with human bodies and behaviour, but the modern English form is a later construction from these classical building blocks, not a word the Greeks themselves used.

Synonyms: personifies, humanizes, embellishes, allegorizes, symbolizes

Antonyms: dehumanizes, objectifies, disregards, neglects, ignores