Personification

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /pɚˌsɑ.nə.fəˈkeɪ.ʃən/

Definitions

1. The attribution of human characteristics, emotions, or qualities to non-human entities such as animals, objects, or abstract concepts
2. The act of attributing distinctly human qualities, feelings, or behaviors to inanimate objects, animals, or abstract ideas
3. The literary or rhetorical technique of endowing non-human things with human traits, emotions, or agency

Etymology: Personification is a plain formation rather than a story of invention: the English verb "personify" was built from "person" plus the Latin-derived suffix "-fy", and the noun "personification" adds "-ification" to that base. The "-ification" ending traces back through Old French to Latin "-ficātiō", a noun-forming suffix tied to verbs in "-ficāre" (to make or cause), so the whole word means something like "the act of making into a person." The Latin element "-ficus" carries the same sense of making, which is why the ending appears in so many English nouns of action. The sense of the word follows directly from that construction. To personify something is to make it act or appear as a person, which is exactly what the English usage describes: giving human traits to animals, objects or abstract ideas. The word's structure therefore stays transparent, with each part still doing its original job of building a noun from a verb built on "person."

Synonyms: embodiment, representation, incarnation

Antonyms: disembodiment, abstraction