Word of the Day:

August 7, 2024

reify

verb RAY-uh-fye

What it Means

Reifying is about considering or representing something abstract as a material or concrete thing. If you reify a concept or idea you somehow give it definite content and form.

// The tense personal dynamic between the two musicians was reified by the dissonant yet captivating music they made together.

See the entry

Reify in Context

“Evolutionary theory and experimental evidence reveals that race is not a natural category. We evolved alongside people who looked like us. And social categories we create and reify affect perceptions of who is them and who is us.” — Michael Muthukrishna, Time, 3 Feb. 2024

More example sentences

Did You Know?

Reify is a word that attempts to provide a bridge between what is abstract and what is concrete. Fittingly, it comes from a word that is an ancestor of 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 comes from the Latin verb -ficare, meaning "to make." In general use, the words refer to the act of considering or presenting an abstract idea or concept in real or material terms, or of assessing something by use of a concrete example.

Word Family Quiz

What five-letter relative of the Latin word 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 Answer