Embodiment

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person or thing that perfectly represents or expresses a particular quality, idea, or concept in physical form
2. A tangible form that clearly expresses a specific concept or trait
3. An object or person that concretely exemplifies a certain characteristic or notion

Etymology: "Embodiment" is a plain formation: the verb "embody" plus the suffix "-ment," which turns a verb into a noun naming the result or state of the action. "Embody" itself is built from "en-" (to make or put into) and "body," so the word literally means putting something into a body. The root "body" traces back to Old English "bodiġ," whose ancestry runs through Proto-Germanic "budagą," and the suffix "-ment" arrived in English through Old French from the Latin "-mentum," which marked the result of an action. The sense of "a tangible form" grows naturally from that physical core. To embody an idea has long meant to give it a body, a concrete shape that others can see or touch. So when someone calls a generous act "the embodiment of kindness," the word still carries the original picture: an abstract quality given a physical presence.

Synonyms: incarnation, manifestation, representation, symbol, example

Antonyms: disembodiment