Incarn

Part of speech: adjective, verb

Definitions

1. To clothe a spirit or idea in a bodily form, giving it a concrete, living shape in flesh
2. To take on or give material human form, making an abstract quality appear in a person or body
3. To embody a spiritual being or principle in physical existence, as an archaic verb for making something flesh

Etymology: Its core is a Latin picture: "in," meaning into, plus "caro," meaning flesh, combined into the verb "incarnare," to clothe in flesh. The idea began as a theological one, describing a divine being taking on a human body, and that religious sense is still the strongest in English use. The Latin verb passed into French as "incarner" and then into English as "incarnate." "Incarn" appears to be a clipped form of that verb, with the ending dropped but the same sense: to give something a body or a human shape. Because it is rare, readers mostly meet it in older texts or through its longer relative.