Word of the Day
: April 7, 2018reify
playWhat It Means
: to consider or represent (something abstract) as a material or concrete thing : to give definite content and form to (a concept or idea)
reify in Context
"Increased awareness of automated surveillance, in other words, is most effective at demystifying the systems doing the watching, not reifying their wisdom and authority." — John Herrman, The New York Times, 14 Jan. 2018
"The home is a haven to be sure. There neatness scrubs away history like grease while retaining the polished signs of the past and reifying the timeless." — William H. Gass, The New York Times Book Review, 3 Aug. 1986
Did You Know?
Reify is a word that attempts to provide a bridge between what is abstract and what is real. Fittingly, it derives from a word that is an ancestor to real—the Latin noun res, meaning "thing." Both reify and the related noun reification first appeared in English in the mid-19th century. Each word combines the Latin res with an English suffix (-fy and -fication, respectively) that is derived from the Latin -ficare, meaning "to make." In general use, the words refer to the act of considering or presenting an abstract idea in real or material terms, or of judging something by a concrete example.
Word Family Quiz
What relative of Latin res refers to a riddle or puzzle made up of letters, pictures, or symbols whose names sound like the parts of a word or phrase?
VIEW THE ANSWERMore Words of the Day
-
May 02
ziggurat
-
May 01
convoluted
-
Apr 30
insouciance
-
Apr 29
furtive
-
Apr 28
alacrity
-
Apr 27
decimate