reification
Americannoun
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the act of treating something abstract, such as an idea, relation, system, quality, etc., as if it were a concrete object.
Defining “home” as if it were just a roof over one’s head, instead of the center of a web of relationships, leads in turn to the reification of homelessness.
-
the act of treating a person as a thing; objectification.
The conference dealt with the issue of prostitution and the reification and trafficking of women.
Etymology
Origin of reification
First recorded in 1845–50; equivalent Latin rē(s) “thing” + -i- ( def. ) + -fication ( def. ), perhaps formed by analogy with deification ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
How do Kelly's role and Anglin's commentary help give us a more nuanced understanding of what's going on with Trump's use of reification?
From Salon • Jul. 4, 2020
The third strategy of division you discuss is reification — in this case, meaning treating people like objects.
From Salon • Jul. 4, 2020
The evolution of this idea finds its reification in his 22nd-century London, where nanotechnology makes all matter malleable.
From Slate • Dec. 15, 2014
“I always thought souls were a mistaken reification of patterns of brain activity. You mean I really do have a soul?”
From Nature • Mar. 19, 2014
This happened simultaneously with the reification of many other forms of human praxis: religion, the judiciary, the military.
From The Civilization of Illiteracy by Nadin, Mihai
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
