typify

[tip-uh-fahy]

See more synonyms for typify on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), typ·i·fied, typ·i·fy·ing.

to serve as a typical example of; exemplify.
to serve as a symbol or emblem of; symbolize; prefigure.
to represent by a type or symbol.

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.
Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1905 to 1906
Lucy Maud Montgomery
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)

to be typical of; characterize
to symbolize or represent completely, by or as if by a type

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

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.