Objectified

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Considered or treated as a mere object instead of as a full person with feelings and rights
2. Regarded in a way that reduces someone to an item or tool, ignoring their humanity
3. Seen or handled only as a thing or an object, denying the complexity of their identity

Etymology: "Objectified" is the past tense and past participle of "objectify," which is simply the English verb "object" with the suffix "-ify" attached. That suffix comes from Latin "-ificare," a verb-forming element built from "-ficus" (making or causing) and "-ficare," so "to objectify" literally means to make something into an object. The base word has a more physical history than its modern sense suggests. "Object" traces back through Medieval Latin "obiectum," from Latin "obicere," meaning "to throw against" or "to place before," so an object was originally something thrown or set in front of the eye or mind. The Latin verb is built from "ob-" (against, before) and "iacere" (to throw). English took "object" from Old French, and it developed the sense of a thing perceived or presented to the senses, which is where the later idea of treating a person as a mere thing grows from.

Synonyms: commodified, dehumanized, treated as an object

Antonyms: valued, appreciated