reification

See also: réification

English

Etymology

First attested around 1846; a macaronic calque of German Verdinglichung, using -ification (“making”) for ver- + -lich + -ung, and Latin res (“thing”) for Ding (“thing”)

Pronunciation

enPR: rāəfəkāshən, IPA^(key): /ˌɹeɪəfəˈkeɪʃən/
Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

reification (countable and uncountable, plural reifications)

The consideration of an abstract thing as if it were concrete, or of an inanimate object as if it were living.
The consideration of a human being as an impersonal object.
(programming) Process that makes a computable/addressable object out of a non-computable/addressable one.
(linguistics) The transformation of a natural-language statement into a form in which its actions and events are quantifiable variables.

Synonyms

hypostatization
objectification
pathetic fallacy
thingification

Derived terms

dereification

Derived terms

reify

Translations

Consideration of an abstract thing as if it were concrete, or of an inanimate object as if it were living

Chinese:
Mandarin: 具象化
Finnish: konkretisointi
French: réification (fr)
German: Verdinglichung f, Vergegenständlichung f, Reifikation (de) f
Hebrew: חיפצון‎

Korean: 실재화 (siljaehwa)
Macedonian: опредметување n (opredmetuvanje)
Norwegian: tingliggjøring
Portuguese: reificação (pt) f
Russian: реификация (ru) (reifikacija)
Spanish: cosificación f, reificación f
Turkish: cisimleştirme, maddeleştirme, soyutlaştırma

Consideration of a human being as an impersonal object

programming: Process that makes out of a non-computable/addressable object a computable/addressable one

German: Reifizierung f