Dictionary

incarnation en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˌɪŋ.kɑɹˈneɪ.ʃən/ (US)
• /ˌɪŋ.kɑːˈneɪ.ʃən/ (UK)

Etymology

From Middle English incarnacion, borrowed from Old French incarnacion, from Medieval Latin, Ecclesiastical Latin incarnatio, from Late Latin incarnari (“to be made flesh”).

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) An incarnate being or form.
   • Robespierre, the very incarnation of lustful and deadly Vengeance, stands silently by.. 1922, Baroness Orczy, The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel:
   • She is a new incarnation of some of the illustrious dead. 1815, Francis Jeffrey, Wordsworth's White Doe (review)
   • The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight. Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll. 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:
   • She had cast off the terror of the leaping flame, the cold power of judgment that was even now being done, and the wise sadness of the tombs - cast them off and put them behind her, like the white shroud she wore, and now stood out the incarnation of lovely tempting womanhood, made more perfect - and in a way more spiritual - than ever woman was before. 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
2. (countable, uncountable) A version or iteration (of something).
   • It seems that they existed in some sort of previous incarnation of our universe, and use abstract terms to describe their existence, such as "feeding on concepts". They prepared for some sort of ascension, but then the Pattern came, which they describe at first as an all-consuming emptiness, elaborating by saying that anything that passed into it was torn asunder, subjected to a set of principles and order that grinds things down to nothing, in a process of which entropy is just one part. 2019 January 7, “Exploring the SCP Foundation: Pattern Screamers” (6:12 from the start), in The Exploring Series, archived from the original on 11 Jan 2023:
3. (countable, uncountable) A living being embodying a deity or spirit.
4. (countable, uncountable) An assumption of human form or nature.
5. (countable, uncountable) A person or thing regarded as embodying or exhibiting some quality, idea, or the like.
   • The leading dancer is the incarnation of grace.
6. (countable, uncountable) The act of incarnating.
7. (countable, uncountable) The state of being incarnated.
8. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) A rosy or red colour; flesh (the colour); carnation.
9. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) The process of healing wounds and filling the part with new flesh; granulation.

Forms

Deriveds

incarnational · disincarnation

Relateds

carnal · incarnate · reincarnation · reincarnate

Synonyms

realization · avatar · embodiment · instantiation

Translations (97)

sv människoblivande (assumption of human form or nature) · ca encarnació (act of incarnating) · bg олицетворе́ние (person or thing regarded as embodying or exhibiting some quality, idea, or the like) · es encarnación (incarnate being or form) · hu inkarnáció (incarnate being or form) · fi ilmentymä (person or thing regarded as embodying or exhibiting some quality, idea, or the like) · uk уосо́блення (incarnate being or form) · fi ruumiillistuma (incarnate being or form) · ca encarnació (incarnate being or form) · hu megtestesülés (incarnate being or form) · ca encarnació (state of being incarnated) · hu megtestesítő (person or thing regarded as embodying or exhibiting some quality, idea, or the like) · sv inkarnation (incarnate being or form) · ca encarnació (assumption of human form or nature) · ar التَّأَنُّس (assumption of human form or nature) · uk вті́лення (person or thing regarded as embodying or exhibiting some quality, idea, or the like) · ko 화신 (incarnate being or form) · ar التَّجَسُّد (assumption of human form or nature) · sip སྐྱེ་བ (assumption of human form or nature) · ml അവതാരം (person or thing regarded as embodying or exhibiting some quality, idea, or the like) · bg въплъщение (living being embodying a deity or spirit) · pt encarnação (incarnate being or form) · pl uosobienie (incarnate being or form) · el ενσάρκωση (living being embodying a deity or spirit) · cs vtělení (person or thing regarded as embodying or exhibiting some quality, idea, or the like) · sh оваплоће́ње (incarnate being or form) · hu két lábon járó (person or thing regarded as embodying or exhibiting some quality, idea, or the like) · ja 化身 (incarnate being or form) · hu megtestesült (person or thing regarded as embodying or exhibiting some quality, idea, or the like) · el ενσάρκωση (act of incarnating) · bg въплъще́ние (incarnate being or form) · bg въплъще́ние (person or thing regarded as embodying or exhibiting some quality, idea, or the like) · fi ruumiillistaminen (act of incarnating) · el ενσάρκωση (state of being incarnated) · id inkarnasi (incarnate being or form) · cs ztělesnění (incarnate being or form) · fi inkarnaatio (incarnate being or form) · ru воплоще́ние (act of incarnating) · mr अवतार (incarnate being or form) · pl wcielenie (incarnate being or form) · sh утеловље́ње (incarnate being or form) · fi henkilöitymä (assumption of human form or nature) · hi अवतार (incarnate being or form) · cmn 化身 (incarnate being or form) · fi henkilöitymä (living being embodying a deity or spirit) · sh utjelovljénje (incarnate being or form) · fi inkarnoituminen (state of being incarnated) · pl inkarnacja (incarnate being or form) · fr incarnation (person or thing regarded as embodying or exhibiting some quality, idea, or the like) · bg въплъщаване (act of incarnating) · ru воплоще́ние (state of being incarnated) · fi ruumiillistuma (assumption of human form or nature) · mk отелотворување (assumption of human form or nature) · el ενσάρκωση (incarnate being or form) · sh ovaploćénje (incarnate being or form) · fi ruumiillistuma (person or thing regarded as embodying or exhibiting some quality, idea, or the like) · fi ruumiillistuma (living being embodying a deity or spirit) · he התגלמות (living being embodying a deity or spirit) · ca encarnació (living being embodying a deity or spirit) · ml അവതാരം (living being embodying a deity or spirit) · cs vtělení (living being embodying a deity or spirit) · ru олицетворе́ние (incarnate being or form) · el ενσάρκωση (assumption of human form or nature) · fr incarnation (living being embodying a deity or spirit) · ca encarnació (person or thing regarded as embodying or exhibiting some quality, idea, or the like) · ru воплоще́ние (incarnate being or form) · sv mandomsanammelse (assumption of human form or nature) · gu અવતાર (incarnate being or form) · ru воплоще́ние (assumption of human form or nature) · sv inkarnation (assumption of human form or nature) · ar الحُلُول (living being embodying a deity or spirit) · sh utelovljénje (incarnate being or form) · ru воплоще́ние (person or thing regarded as embodying or exhibiting some quality, idea, or the like) · be увасабле́нне (incarnate being or form) · fi ruumiillistuminen (state of being incarnated) · hu megtestesülés (act of incarnating) · mk отелотворение (incarnate being or form) · mk олицетворение (incarnate being or form) · ru олицетворе́ние (person or thing regarded as embodying or exhibiting some quality, idea, or the like) · no inkarnasjon (incarnate being or form) · de Verkörperung (incarnate being or form) · fr incarnation (incarnate being or form) · ang ġeflǣsċnes (act of incarnating) · sk stelesnenie (incarnate being or form) · bg олицетворе́ние (incarnate being or form) · ru воплоще́ние (living being embodying a deity or spirit) · tl pagkakatawang-tao (incarnate being or form) · sh утјеловље́ње (incarnate being or form) · uk уосо́блення (person or thing regarded as embodying or exhibiting some quality, idea, or the like) · el ενσάρκωση (person or thing regarded as embodying or exhibiting some quality, idea, or the like) · fi inkarnointi (act of incarnating) · sl utelešenje (incarnate being or form) · it incarnazione (incarnate being or form) · ar الحُلُول (incarnate being or form) · uk вті́лення (incarnate being or form) · ml അവതാരം (incarnate being or form) · be увасабле́нне (person or thing regarded as embodying or exhibiting some quality, idea, or the like)