Personify

Personify

Verb · /pəˈsɒnɪfaɪ/ · to represent a quality or idea as a person, or to be the perfect example of something

Definition

To attribute human characteristics to something non-human — an idea, an object, or an abstract quality. Also: to be the living embodiment of a quality. You can say "she personifies elegance" meaning she IS elegance made human. In literature, personification gives human traits to nature, death, time, or emotions.

Origin

From French personnifier, from Latin persona (mask, character) + -ficare (to make). Literally: to make into a person. The word entered English in the 18th century. The literary device of personification — giving human qualities to non-human things — dates back to ancient Greek and Roman poetry, where gods personified natural forces.