Dictionary

personification en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /pɚˌsɑ.nə.fəˈkeɪ.ʃən/
• (US) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree English person(ify) Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -ficātiō Old French -ificationbor. Middle English -ificacioun English -ification English personification From person(ify) + -ification.

Meanings

1. (countable) A person, thing, or name typifying a certain quality or idea; an embodiment or exemplification.
   • De Coude was the personification of coolness—was he not the best shot in France? 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 52:
   • Adolf Hitler was the personification of anti-Semitism.
   • He might have sat for a personification of fear: if he moved, he seemed rather afraid of his own shadow following him too closely; if he laughed, he soon checked himself, quite alarmed at the sound. 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Publishing”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 12:
2. (countable) An artistic representation of an abstract quality as a human.
   • The Grim Reaper is a personification of death.
3. (uncountable, usually) The process of creating such a representation: a literary device or other artistic method in which an inanimate object or an idea is given human qualities.
   • The writer used personification to convey her ideas.
   • You might search in vain if you go looking for personification in his works: his style was very concrete.

Forms

Coordinates

humanization · anthropomorphism · prosopopoeia

Deriveds

impersonification · nonpersonification

Relateds

personify · pathetic fallacy

Translations (90)

tl pagsasatao (literary device) · nn personifisering (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · ja 擬人化 (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · nb personifisering (artistic representation of an abstract quality as a human) · sh personifikacija (literary device) · ru персонифика́ция (artistic representation of an abstract quality as a human) · fi personifikaatio (literary device) · pl uosobienie (artistic representation of an abstract quality as a human) · nb personifisering (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · bg олицетворение (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · da personificering (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · es prosopopeya (literary device) · bg въплъщение (artistic representation of an abstract quality as a human) · de Personbildung (literary device) · de Personifikation (literary device) · fr personnification (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · hu megszemélyesítés (artistic representation of an abstract quality as a human) · fi henkilöitymä (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · pl personifikacja (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · eu pertsonifikazio (artistic representation of an abstract quality as a human) · da personificering (literary device) · ca personificació (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · nl personificatie (literary device) · pl personifikacja (literary device) · ca personificació (literary device) · de Personendichtung (literary device) · gl personificación (literary device) · uk персоніфіка́ція (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · hu megtestesülés (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · ca personificació (artistic representation of an abstract quality as a human) · es metagoge (literary device) · ka პერსონიფიკაცია (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · cy personoliad (literary device) · nl verpersoonlijking (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · sv personifikation (literary device) · fi henkilöinti (literary device) · nb personifikasjon (artistic representation of an abstract quality as a human) · ca prosopopeia (literary device) · tr tecessüm (artistic representation of an abstract quality as a human) · ru персонифика́ция (literary device) · sh personifikacija (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · cmn 擬人 /拟人 (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · nl personificatie (artistic representation of an abstract quality as a human) · gl personificación (artistic representation of an abstract quality as a human) · cs personifikace (literary device) · id personifikasi (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · es personificación (artistic representation of an abstract quality as a human) · pt personificação (artistic representation of an abstract quality as a human) · de Prosopopöie (literary device) · az təcəssüm (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · cs zosobnění (literary device) · tr tecessüm (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · es personificación (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · ru олицетворе́ние (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · nb personifikasjon (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · nn personifikasjon (artistic representation of an abstract quality as a human) · ru воплоще́ние (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · nl personificatie (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · az şəxsləndirmə (artistic representation of an abstract quality as a human) · sv personifikation (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · de Personifizierung (artistic representation of an abstract quality as a human) · de Personifizierung (literary device) · uk персоніфіка́ція (literary device) · da personificering (artistic representation of an abstract quality as a human) · hu megtestesítő (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · fi henkilöitymä (artistic representation of an abstract quality as a human) · de Personifizierung (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · pt personificação (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · ms personifikasi (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · pl uosobienie (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · el προσωποποίηση (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · ka გაპიროვნება (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · pl wcielenie (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · hu megszemélyesítés (literary device) · ar تَجْسِيد (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · hu megtestesült (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · pl ożywienie (artistic representation of an abstract quality as a human) · it personificazione (artistic representation of an abstract quality as a human) · gl personificación (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · nn personifisering (artistic representation of an abstract quality as a human) · th บุคคลวัต (literary device) · pt personificação (literary device) · cmn 人格化形象 (literary device) · es personificación (literary device) · nn personifikasjon (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · sh personifikacija (artistic representation of an abstract quality as a human) · tr tecessüm (literary device) · pl uosobienie (literary device) · pap personificacion (person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea) · pl animizacja (artistic representation of an abstract quality as a human)