Reifies

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To treat or represent an abstract idea as if it were a real, tangible thing
2. Transforms a concept or theory into a more definite or material form
3. Converts intangible or theoretical notions into something perceived as concrete or actual

Etymology: "Reifies" is the third-person singular form of "reify," so it takes its history from the verb itself. The verb is a back-formation from "reification," a term borrowed as a calque from German, where "Verdinglichung" (literally "thingification") was the model. Its roots are Latin "rēs," meaning "thing," and the English suffix "-ify," which turns a noun into a verb meaning to make or treat something as such. The surprise is the sequence: the noun came first, and the verb was carved out of it afterward, working backward from the noun's ending. The idea behind it, treating an abstraction as if it were a solid object, is what gives the word its sense of making the intangible seem concrete. The German model shows that the concept was already being named in that language before English had a word for it.

Synonyms: materializes, embodies, solidifies, actualizes, concretizes

Antonyms: abstracts, disembodies, dissolves