anthropomorphism en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˌænθɹəpəˈmɔɹfɪzəm/ (General-American)
- (US) audio
Etymology
Coined in the mid-1700s. From Ancient Greek ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos, “man, human”) and μορφή (morphḗ, “form, shape”). By surface analysis, anthropo- + -morphism.
Meanings
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(countable, uncountable) The ascribing of human characteristics and behaviors to nonhuman entities.
Literature is full of examples of anthropomorphism, especially in children’s stories, from The Wind in the Willows to Watership Down.
2016 January 14, Stephen Ross, “What you see in this picture says more about you than the kangaroo”, in The Guardian:Anthropic is regarded as a giant among AI companies, but perhaps what it really excels in is anthropomorphism. Earlier this year, the company released an 84-page document titled Claude’s “constitution,” Claude being the name of the large language model that is the company’s flagship product.
2026 June 3, Ted Chiang, “No, Artificial Intelligence Is Not Conscious”, in Jeffrey Goldberg, editor, The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC:
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(countable, uncountable) The ascribing of human characteristics and behaviors to divine nonhuman entities.
Only an over-idealized Hellenism may properly be acutely sensitive to the anthropomorphism of gods, when, in speech and action, they display their human qualities.
1924, Herbert Weir Smyth, “VIII. Orestea. III: Eumenides”, in Aeschylean Tragedy, page 222:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| anthropomorphisms | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Antonyms
Coordinates
humanization · personification · prosopopoeia
Deriveds
antianthropomorphism · anthropomorphist · deanthropomorphism
Relateds
anthropomorphically · zoomorphism · kemonomimi · nahualism · anthropomorphic
Translations (68)
io antropomorfismo (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · lt antropomorfizmas (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · sh антропоморфѝзам (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · li antropomorfisme (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · az antropomorfizm (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · nb antropomorfisme (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · pl antropomorfizm (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · eo antropomorfismo (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · es antropomorfismo (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · sh antropomorfìzam (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · sk antropomorfizmus (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · pt antropomorfismo (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · uk антропоморфізм (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · cs antropomorfismus (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · el ανθρωπομορφισμός (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · id antropomorfisme (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · kmr antropomorfîzm (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · af antropomorfisme (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · tg αнтропоморфи́зм (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · tr insan biçimcilik (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · pl antropomorfizacja (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · ja 擬人観 (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · br denheñvelegezh (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · ar تَجْسِيم (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · eu antropomorfismo (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · fi antropomorfismi (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · bg антропоморфизъм (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · hy անթրոպոմորֆիզմ (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · lv antropomorfisms (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · sl antropomorfizem (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · hu antropomorfizmus (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · ta மாந்தவுருவகம் (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · vi nhân hóa (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · ca antropomorfisme (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · da antropomorfisme (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · ko 의인화 (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · uz antropomorfizm (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · lb Anthropomorphismus (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · ru антропоморфи́зм (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · et antropomorfism (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · ka ანთროპომორფიზმი (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · ia anthropomorphismo (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · ms antropomorfisme (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · nl antropomorfisme (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · sw tashihisi (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · ro antropomorfism (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · nn antropomorfisme (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · de Anthropomorphismus (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · is manngervastefna (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · fa انسانانگاری (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · he האנשה (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · gsw Anthropomorfismus (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · ky антропоморфизм (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · sq antropomorfizëm (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · kk антропоморфизм (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · oc antropomorfisme (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · mn антропоморфизм (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · it antropomorfismo (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · fr anthropomorphisme (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · be антрапамарфі́зм (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · th มานุษยรูปนิยม (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · sv antropomorfism (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · ga antrapamorfachas (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · ja 擬人化 (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · gv antrapoamorfaght (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · cmn 擬人論 /拟人论 (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · fi ihmisenkaltaistaminen (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human) · gl antropomorfismo (the attribution or ascription of human characteristics to something not human)