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reify

[ree-uh-fahy, rey-]
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verb (used with object), re·i·fied, re·i·fy·ing.
  1. to convert into or regard as a concrete thing: to reify a concept.
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Origin of reify

1850–55; < Latin rē(s) thing + -ify
Related formsre·i·fi·ca·tion, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for reification

Historical Examples

  • This happened simultaneously with the reification of many other forms of human praxis: religion, the judiciary, the military.

    The Civilization of Illiteracy

    Mihai Nadin

British Dictionary definitions for reification

reify

verb -fies, -fying or -fied
  1. (tr) to consider or make (an abstract idea or concept) real or concrete
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Derived Formsreification, nounreificatory, adjectivereifier, noun

Word Origin

C19: from Latin rēs thing; compare deify
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 reification

n.

1846, "act of materializing," from Latin re-, stem of res "thing" + -fication. In Marxist jargon, translating German Verdinglichung.

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reify

v.

"make into a thing; make real or material; consider as a thing," 1854, back-formation from reification, or else from re-, stem of Latin res "thing, object, matter, affair, event, circumstance, condition," from PIE *re- "to bestow, endow" + -fy. Related: Reified; reifying.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper