exemplify

[ ig-zem-pluh-fahy ]

verb (used with object)

, ex·em·pli·fied, ex·em·pli·fy·ing.

1. to show or illustrate by example.
2. to furnish or serve as an example of:

   The plays of Wilde exemplify the comedy of manners.

   Synonyms: embody, depict, epitomize, typify

3. Law. to transcribe or copy; make an attested copy of (a document) under seal.

exemplify

/ ɪɡˈzɛmplɪˌfaɪ /

verb

1. to show by example
2. to serve as an example of
3. law
   1. to make an official copy of (a document from public records) under seal
   2. to transcribe (a legal document)

Derived Forms

• exˈemplifiˌcative, adjective
• exˈempliˌfier, noun
• exˌemplifiˈcation, noun
• exˈempliˌfiable, adjective

Other Words From

• ex·em·pli·fi·a·ble [ig-zem-pl, uh, -, fahy, -, uh, -b, uh, l], adjective
• ex·em·pli·fi·er noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of exemplify¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English exemplifien, from Middle French exemplifier, from Medieval Latin exemplificāre “to copy”; See exemplum, -ify

Word History and Origins

Origin of exemplify¹

C15: via Old French from Medieval Latin exemplificāre, from Latin exemplum example + facere to make

Example Sentences

Political elites also tried to exploit the Doctrine to punish adversaries and advance their political agendas, as exemplified by the Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon administrations.

From Washington Post

The team’s difficulties — and also its recent upturn — have been best exemplified by the play of its reigning All-NBA Second Team member.

From FiveThirtyEight

Together they exemplify the unpredictability of distance hiking and, really, of endurance athletics at large.

From Outside Online

The confusion was exemplified in the long-running case that led to Wednesday’s Bobek opinion.

From Fortune

The urban-rural divide in America’s politics exemplifies this.

From FiveThirtyEight

Few Americans appear to exemplify that proposition better than Joseph P. Kennedy.

From The Daily Beast

“Thom Grey was created to exemplify a more youthful and university inspired sensibility,” the designer told WWD.

From The Daily Beast

Both of these narratives exemplify why this country is still as Ronald Reagan famously put it "a shining city upon a hill."

From The Daily Beast

He was not Hugh Hefner, who used his house to exemplify his sexual values.

From The Daily Beast

This picture might well exemplify the dislocation between old and new in the movement of the dress and the stasis of the dancer.

From The Daily Beast

Since words have different meanings, we may sometimes find that a pair of words exemplify all three Laws, as plough and sword.

From Project Gutenberg

These figures exemplify the material growth of industrial Scotland in the forty years that have passed.

From Project Gutenberg

He was an ardent devotee of the Commonwealth and his writings exemplify this affectionate feeling.

From Project Gutenberg

Exemplify the sibilant impurity with such syllables as pish, false, traitress, miscreant.

From Project Gutenberg

It is somewhat difficult to exemplify this by a line-drawing, though it is easy to do so with an actual example.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• demonstrate
• depict
• elucidate
• embody
• epitomize
• illuminate
• illustrate
• manifest
• mirror
• personify
• represent
• spell out
• symbolize
• typify