personnification

Forms

personnification f (plural personnifications)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French personnifier + -ation.^[2][3][4][5] The verb is itself a learned derivative of personne with the suffix -ifier,^[2][6] and is recorded from 1710, in Boileau.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Petit Robert and Rey date it 1758, for the action of personifying an abstraction or a lifeless thing.^[7][4] The TLFi and the GLLF give a record from before 1772, in Piron.^[2][8][9]

Semantic evolution

First a term of rhetoric for the figure that turns an abstraction or a lifeless thing into a person, it soon also named the result, the personified figure itself.^[2][10][5] In step with the verb, it came to be applied to a real person who embodies an abstract idea, a sense first found in Balzac (1847).^[4][2] In 1893 Théodore Flournoy used it in psychology, for the association of abstract words with concrete images.^[2][8]

Timeline

• 1710 – The verb personnifier is recorded in Boileau.^[2]
• 1758 – First dated record of personnification.^[7][4]
• Before 1772 – Piron uses it for the action of personifying an abstraction.^[2][8]
• 1847 – Balzac uses it of a person who is the symbol of an idea.^[2][4]
• 1893 – Flournoy uses it in psychology.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (rhetoric) personification, the figure of speech that represents an abstraction, a thing or an animal as a person or gives it human traits.^[2][5][10]
2. A figure that represents an abstract or lifeless thing in this way, an allegory: les personnifications des saisons sur un tableau.^[7][5]
3. A real person who embodies a quality or idea: ce banquier était la personnification de l'avarice.^[7][2][8]
4. (psychology) The tendency to link abstract words with concrete images.^[8][2]

Related words

• personnifier
• personne
• incarnation
• allégorie

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
6. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette