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physicality

nounC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,350 of 15,258leans written

Physicality is the bodily quality or presence of somebody. Sheer physicality, the physicality of the performance, his physicality on the pitch.

In sport it means strength and willingness to make contact, and in acting it means how a performer uses the body. It is a modern word and has spread fast, which purists complain about.

Definitions of physicality

  1. 1nounphysicalityThe bodily quality or presence of somebody.C1

    “The dancer's physicality on stage was powerful and full of energy.”

physicality is a quality.

Where it comes from

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *bʰuH-

  2. Latin

    physicālis

  3. English

    physical

  4. English, today

    physicality

Built from

  • φυσικός · Ancient Greek — natural; physical
  • φύσις · Ancient Greek — origin, birth; nature, quality; form, shape; type, kind
  • φῠ́ω · Ancient Greek — grow

From physical + -ity. physical Latin physicālis, from Latin physica (“study of nature”), from Ancient Greek φυσική, feminine singular of φυσικός (“natural; physical”), from φύσις (“origin, birth; nature, quality; form, shape; type, kind”), from φῠ́ω (“grow”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bʰuH- (“to appear, become, rise up”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

physicality in the wild

  • During his playing days he was nicknamed "Bam-Bam", after the eponymous character from The Flintstones, for his tackling and physicality.

    Dick Ambrose

  • There are variations on gameplay, including rules that increase educational value or physicality.

    Steal the bacon

  • The poem is divided into nine sections, each celebrating a different aspect of human physicality.

    I Sing the Body Electric

  • Selected for Fiji schoolboys U18 tour to NZ in 2002 after impressing with his size and physicality for Sigatoka Methodist College in the Deans Trophy competition.

    Jone Qovu

  • Based on his physicality and playing style he earned two nicknames: Mongolian Monster and Bull.

    Davaasambuugiin Delgernyam

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 physicālis family

physical

physicality — used about once every 13,270 pages · #12,350 · point at the bar for the others

  • physically