Personification is an ontological metaphor in which a thing or abstraction is represented as a person.

The term "personification" may apply to:

  • The attribution of a personal nature or character to inanimate objects or abstract notions, especially as a rhetorical figure, as in "The trees danced in the wind" or "The fire roared with anger."
  • An outstanding example of a quality or idea: "He's invisible, a walking personification of the Negative" (Ralph Ellison).
  • An artistic representation of an abstract quality or idea as a person, for example the four cardinal virtues or nine Muses.

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