personify
/pə(ɹ)ˈsɒnɪfaɪ/verb
personify is spelled P-E-R-S-O-N-I-F-Y: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 74,122nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, personify means “To be an example of; to have all the attributes of” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in personify?
| Letters | 9: P-E-R-S-O-N-I-F-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 6 million words; the 74,122nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is personify?
Personify appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 74,122nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce personify?
- /pə(ɹ)ˈsɒnɪfaɪ/
Personify has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-personify.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of personify
- personifies present, singular, he/she/it
- personifying participle, present
- personified participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does personify mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To be an example of; to have all the attributes of.
Mozart could be said to personify musical genius.
- 2
To create a representation of (an abstract quality) in the form of a character or persona.
The writer personified death in the form of the Grim Reaper.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Personify in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to be an example of:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | personnifier |
| German | personifizieren |
| Spanish | personificar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does personify come from?
From person + -ify, after French personnifier.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).