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typify

[tip-uh-fahy]
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verb (used with object), typ·i·fied, typ·i·fy·ing.
  1. to serve as a typical example of; exemplify.
  2. to serve as a symbol or emblem of; symbolize; prefigure.
  3. to represent by a type or symbol.
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Origin of typify

1625–35; < Latin typ(us) type + -ify
Related formstyp·i·fi·ca·tion, nountyp·i·fi·er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

exemplifyepitomizepersonifymirrorembodysymbolizeillustratemodelincarnatedescribefeaturemeanemblematize

Examples from the Web for typified

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • She typified that youth and hope that he had felt slipping away from him.

    K

    Mary Roberts Rinehart

  • It was the rush and roar of rain that he typified, and it stopped him, for no voice could be heard in it.

    A Tale of Two Cities

    Charles Dickens

  • Ptah typified at once the working power and the truthfulness of God.

  • And so God, by this sprinkling, has typified the spiritual sprinkling.

  • He typified the spirit of joy to me—there was never a moment when he had not some vivid plan for me.

    Glory of Youth

    Temple Bailey

British Dictionary definitions for typified

typify

verb -fies, -fying or -fied (tr)
  1. to be typical of; characterize
  2. to symbolize or represent completely, by or as if by a type
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Derived Formstypification, nountypifier, noun

Word Origin

C17: from Latin typus type + -ify
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 typified

typify

v.

1630s, "to represent by a symbol," from Latin typus (see type (n.)) + -fy. Meaning "to serve as a typical specimen of some class, etc." is attested from 1854.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper