personification
noun
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The Art of Personification
It was long common in the visual arts to use human figures to represent a range of natural phenomena, personal qualities, abstract conceptions, and so on. The Greeks and Romans showed us how. Many of their gods and goddesses themselves represented a single thing, be it dawn (Eos, Aurora), wisdom (Athena, Minerva), or war (Ares, Mars); when depicted in idealized human form (as, say, a stately woman holding a scales), each became a personification of that phenomenon or quality or concept (in this case, Justice). Inspired by classical art, Renaissance painters and sculptors likewise began producing thousands of artistic personifications--of Time, or Folly, or France, or Vice, or Poetry, or the Americas. And in the 18th century English-speakers began using the word itself. Today artists are less inclined to such depictions, and the word gets used more often to describe actual individuals; when we call someone the personification of style, or greed, or loyalty, we mean the ideal or epitome or embodiment of that quality.
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Examples of personification in a Sentence
Charles Pulliam-Moore, The Verge, 1 Nov. 2024
Macron has often been overeager to be seen as the personification of the republic.
—Justin E. H. Smith, Foreign Affairs, 4 Nov. 2020
The corollary is that the Palestinian is a personification first and a person second.
—Andrea Long Chu, Vulture, 11 Oct. 2024
Anchored by the Monument à la République (a depiction of Marianne, the personification of France), this place has been the setting of many significant French protests and demonstrations; on more ordinary days, the skating communities of Paris come here for the ramps and pyramids.
—Tom Nouvian, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 July 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Personification.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/personification. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
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personification
noun
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