personify

From French personnifier; equivalent to person +‎ -ify or persona +‎ -ify.

• IPA^(key): /pə(ɹ)ˈsɒnɪfaɪ/

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personify (third-person singular simple present personifies, present participle personifying, simple past and past participle personified)

1. (transitive) To be an example of; to have all the attributes of.

   Antonym: unpersonify

   Mozart could be said to personify musical genius.

2. (transitive) To create a representation of (an abstract quality) in the form of a character or persona.

   Antonym: unpersonify

   The writer personified death in the form of the Grim Reaper.

   • 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VII, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 73:

     If ever any of the girls had taken a fancy to personify their good genius, they would certainly have given to his image all they remembered of "Uncle Frank."

• personification