Anthropomorphism

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˌænθɹəpəˈmɔɹfɪzəm/

Definitions

1. The assignment of human traits, emotions, or intentions to animals, inanimate objects, or deities is a creative expression found in literature and art
2. This concept involves imparting human-like qualities to non-human entities, enabling them to exhibit human emotions or behaviors
3. The practice of giving human features or behaviors to animals, objects, or gods as a way to explain or relate to them

Etymology: Anthropomorphism was coined in the mid-1700s, but its building blocks are ancient. The Greek "ánthrōpos" meant "man" or "human," and "morphḗ" meant "form" or "shape," so the combined sense is roughly "human-shaped." Greek writers and philosophers had long noticed that people tended to picture their gods with human bodies and human habits, and the idea of attributing human form or feeling to non-human things was familiar well before anyone needed a single word for it. The English term arrived only when scholars and writers wanted a name for that habit. Its literal sense is about form, but the word came to cover character as well: giving human emotions, motives, or behaviour to animals, objects, forces of nature, or gods. That is why a cartoon fox that sulks or a storm that seems to "rage" counts as anthropomorphic, even though no one thinks the fox has a human body.

Synonyms: personification, humanization