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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 for typify

exemplify, epitomize, personify, mirror, embody, symbolize, illustrate, model, incarnate, describe, feature, mean, emblematize

Examples from the Web for typify

Historical Examples of typify

  • Was he a quadruped with mane and tail, or an allegory invented to typify destiny?

    A Day's Ride

    Charles James Lever

  • Therefore, when you fight for us you fight not only for yourself, but for everything you typify.

    The Napoleon of Notting Hill

    Gilbert K. Chesterton

  • It seemed to her to typify all that was unlovely in her life.

  • His Virgins are like goddesses, and seem to typify for him the strength of womanhood.

    Luca Signorelli

    Maud Cruttwell

  • This was to typify to him his own undutiful and unnatural behavior.

    Richard I

    Jacob Abbott

British Dictionary definitions for typify

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 for typify

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 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