personification

UK/pɚˌsɑ.nə.fəˈkeɪ.ʃən/US/pɚˌsɑ.nə.fəˈkeɪ.ʃən/

nounC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,349 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: personifications

Personification is the writing about a thing as though it were a person. A vivid personification.

The wind sighs and the sea is angry, and nobody reading it objects. Personification is also used of a person who embodies a quality completely.

Definitions of personification

1nounpersonificationThe writing about a thing as though it were a person.C1
“The whole poem rests on one personification of the river.”

personification is a device.

Where it comes from

French
personnifier
English
personify
English, today
personification

From personify + -ification. personify comes from person + ify, after French personnifier.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

personification in the wild

Libertas is the Roman goddess and personification of liberty.
Libertas
The Greek equivalent of the goddess Libertas is Eleutheria, the personification of liberty.
Libertas
The image of Britannia () has been used as the national personification of Great Britain, traditionally depicted as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield.
Britannia
The place name is where the personification comes from.
Britannia
Bharat Mata is a national personification of India as a mother goddess and a symbol of Indian nationalism.
Bharat Mata

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the personnifier family

personification personify

personification — used about once every 13,270 pages · #12,349 · point at the bar for the others

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