Dictionary

objectify en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /əbˈd͡ʒɛktɪˌfaɪ/

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-der. Proto-Indo-European *h₁épsder. Proto-Indo-European *h₁óp(i) Proto-Italic *op Latin ob Latin ob- Proto-Indo-European *(H)yeh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-kt Proto-Indo-European *(H)yéh₁kt ~ *(H)ih₁kéntder. Latin iaciō Latin obiciō Latin obiectus Medieval Latin obiectum Old French objectbor. English object Latin -i- Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-der. Proto-Italic *θakos Proto-Italic *-fakos Latin -ficus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin -ficō Latin -ificāreder. Old French -ifierbor. Middle English -ifien English -ify English objectify From object + -ify.

Meanings

1. (ambitransitive) To make (something, such as an abstract idea) possible to be perceived by the senses.
   • It was the unknown, objectified at last, in concrete flesh and blood, bending over him and reaching down to seize hold of him. 1906 May–October, Jack London, White Fang, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., published October 1906, →OCLC:
2. (transitive) To treat (something) as objectively real.
   • The mystic objectifies a rich feeling in the pit of the stomach into a cosmology. 1921, Aldous Huxley, Crome Yellow, London: Chatto & Windus:
3. (transitive) To treat (someone) as a mere (usually sexual) object; to sexually dehumanize (someone).
   • The entire notion of cheerleading is just a sexist attempt to try to objectify the female body. 1999: Dawson's Creek (TV, episode 3.04)
   • 1994 "Book review: Fire With Fire", backlash.comhttp://www.backlash.com/content/gender/1996/3-mar96/page23.html She talks about the fact that women objectify men just as much as men objectify women, and she even admits her culpability in doing so by talking about how sometimes she wishes she had a group of "nubile 17 year old soccer players" to keep her happy.
   • Near-synonyms: demean, fetishize

Forms

Coordinates

menialize

Deriveds

objectifiable · reobjectify · unobjectifying · objectifier · self-objectify · overobjectify

Relateds

sexualize · objectification · objectified

Synonyms

reify · thingify · thingify · objectivize · demean · objectivize · reify · fetishize

Translations (7)

fi esineellistää (to treat as a mere object, denying their dignity) · pl uprzedmiotowić (to make possible to be perceived by the senses) · cmn 具象化 (to make possible to be perceived by the senses) · es objetivar (to make possible to be perceived by the senses) · pl uprzedmiotawiać (to make possible to be perceived by the senses) · es cosificar (to treat as a mere object, denying their dignity) · cmn 物化 (to treat as a mere object, denying their dignity)