incarnate

[adjective in-kahr-nit, -neyt; verb in-kahr-neyt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR incarnate ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

embodied in flesh; given a bodily, especially a human, form: a devil incarnate.

personified or typified, as a quality or idea: chivalry incarnate.

flesh-colored or crimson.

verb (used with object), in·car·nat·ed, in·car·nat·ing.

to put into or represent in a concrete form, as an idea: The building incarnates the architect's latest theories.

to be the embodiment or type of: Her latest book incarnates the literature of our day.

to embody in flesh; invest with a bodily, especially a human, form: a man who incarnated wisdom and compassion.

Origin of incarnate

1350–1400; late Middle English < Late Latin incarnātus past participle of incarnāre to make into flesh, equivalent to in- in-² + carn- flesh (see carnal) + -ātus -ate¹

Related formsnon·in·car·nate, adjectivenon·in·car·nat·ed, adjectiveun·in·car·nate, adjectiveun·in·car·nat·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for incarnate

embodied, substantiated, personified, typified, manifested, human, physical, real, tangible

Examples from the Web for incarnate

Contemporary Examples of incarnate

In that happy place of the collective imagination, Snowden is practically an avatar of our secular devil—“negativity” incarnate.
Edward Snowden, Not Pope Francis, Is the Person of the Year
James Poulos
December 12, 2013

Historical Examples of incarnate

He became a flame-demon, a sort of incarnate spirit of fire.
Storyology
Benjamin Taylor
Apart from that, the new-chum is the incarnate comedy of colonial life.
Brighter Britain! (Volume 1 of 2)
William Delisle Hay
It hath gone out from me; it will incarnate itself in another, in a nobler.
Dreamers of the Ghetto
I. Zangwill
True, God himself was now incarnate on earth—of that they had no doubt.
Dreamers of the Ghetto
I. Zangwill
Is she not an incarnate angel who can be compared to no one but you?
The Memoires of Casanova, Complete
Jacques Casanova de Seingalt

British Dictionary definitions for incarnate

incarnate

adjective (ɪnˈkɑːnɪt, -neɪt) (usually immediately postpositive)

possessing bodily form, esp the human forma devil incarnate

personified or typifiedstupidity incarnate

(esp of plant parts) flesh-coloured or pink

verb (ɪnˈkɑːneɪt) (tr)

to give a bodily or concrete form to

to be representative or typical of

Word Origin for incarnate

C14: from Late Latin incarnāre to make flesh, from Latin in- ² + carō flesh

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for incarnate

adj.

late 14c., from Late Latin incarnatus "made flesh," a common word among early Christian writers, past participle of Latin incarnare "to make flesh" (see incarnation).

1530s, a back-formation from incarnation, or else from Latin incarnatus, past participle of incarnare (see incarnation). Related: Incarnated; incarnating.