reify
/ˈɹiː.ə.faɪ/verb
reify is spelled R-E-I-F-Y: 5 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 28 million words in written English, the 161,690th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, reify means “To regard something abstract as if it were a concrete material thing” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in reify?
| Letters | 5: R-E-I-F-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 28 million words; the 161,690th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is reify?
Reify appears about once in every 28 million words in written English, the 161,690th 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 reify?
- US /ˈɹiː.ə.faɪ/
- US /ˈɹeɪ.ə.faɪ/
Reify has 3 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-reify.ogg, En-us-reify-2.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with reify?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as reify from its last stressed vowel (/iəfaɪ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: fiery, firey.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of reify
- reifies present, singular, he/she/it
- reifying participle, present
- reified participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does reify mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To regard something abstract as if it were a concrete material thing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Reify in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to regard something abstract as if it were a concrete material thing:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | réifier |
| German | verdinglichen, vergegenständlichen, reifizieren |
| Portuguese | coisificar, reificar |
| Spanish | cosificar |
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 reify come from?
Back-formation from reification, calque from German. Formed as Latin rēs (“thing”) + -ify (English suffix).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).